Animal Unique | Marine Angelfish | Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. Marine angelfish is found only in the ocean, never in fresh or brackish environments. They can be found on the shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Ocean. The family consists of seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, tropical Cichlids of the Amazon basin. Many of the species are popular among marine aquarists. Some of the largest species are sold as food fish, but they are linked to ciguatera poisoning.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Subclass: Neopterygii
Infraclass: Teleostei
Order: Perciformes
Family: Pomacanthidae
The Marine angelfish is easily recognized by the strongly compressed body. In many instances, there is an elongated extension to the rear edge of the soft dorsal and anal fins. The caudal fin is rounded or crescent-shaped. The mouth is small and relatively large pectoral fins. A majority of the species can be about 20-30 cm long as adults. The largest species of marine angelfish, the Gray angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus), which can be 60 cm long. The smallest Marine angelfish are found in the genus Centropyge; these fish no more than 15 cm (6 inches) in length.
Marine angelfish are known for their distinctive color. In many species, the color will change as a young adult to adult fish. The color shifts are also believed to be linked to the social rank of each individual fish. Marine angelfish are pelagic and brothers do not guard their offspring. All species where breeding habits have been examined appear to be protogynous hermaphrodites. Some species form pairs, while others live in harems consisting of one male and several females. If the man is removed from the harem, one of the females into a male fish.
Some species are solitary in nature and form highly territorial pairs involved, other forms harems with a single dominant male with several females. As a youth, some kinds of life as a cleaner fish racks. As brothers pelagic, Marine angelfish release many tiny buoyant eggs into the water which then form part of the plankton. The eggs float freely with the currents until hatching, a large number of victims of plankton eaters.
During breeding, the Marine angelfish woman, a large number of small eggs introduced into the water and the male will fertilize them. The eggs are buoyant and will mix with the plankton and follow the currents of the sea. Many feed on sponge and just wrapped, and adults can be destructive to a reef. There are formulas prepared Marine angelfish with a sponge, but it can often be difficult to get an angel to accept new foods. But once an Marine angelfish is feeding can live for many years. One example is the aquarium in Nancy, France, which has successfully preserved multiple copies of Marine angelfish more than 20 years.
Animal Unique