The gray angelfish (''Pomacanthus arcuatus''), also written as grey angelfish and known in Jamaica as the pot cover, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

belonging to the marine angelfish

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Pomacanthidae. It is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The gray angelfish has a disk-shaped, compressed body with a large head and small snout. The snout has a mouth at its tip, which is filled with small, bristle-like teeth. The

preoperculum This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

has a sizable spine at its corner and a smooth vertical edge. The juveniles have a black body marked with five vertical yellow stripes, three on the head and two on the body. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has a black blotch which can be elongated or rectangular. Adults are pale grayish in color and covered in black spots. The head is plain pale gray with a white mouth. The dorsal and anal fins frequently show elongated streamers. The dorsal fin contains 9 spines and 31-33 soft rays, while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 23-25 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of .

Distribution

The gray angelfish is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, though it is typically not found north of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

during the winter. Its range extends to all of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. It has been introduced to

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

from the Bahamas.

Habitat and biology

The gray angelfish is found at depths between over coral and rocky reefs. Juveniles occur at shallow depths on patch reefs and in

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

beds. The gray angelfish is a diurnal species hiding in the reef during the night. They mainly feed on

sponges Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...

but have also been recorded feeding on algae, as well as tunicates, zoantharians,

gorgonians Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

, hydroids, and bryozoans. The juveniles act as cleaner fish, establishing a cleaning station which is visited by a variety of larger fishes for the juvenile gray angelfish to remove and consume their ectoparasites. In the northern parts of its range, the

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: Ar ...

ing season occurs in the summer, from April to September. They have been recorded spawning above deep reefs during the early morning. The fish swim a meter or two above the reef and indulge in brief chases. The pair will chase off intruders. When they are ready, the pair swims upwards, bringing their bellies together to release eggs and

milt Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals which reproduce by spraying this fluid, which contains the sperm, onto roe (fish eggs). It can also refer to the sperm sacs or testes that contain the semen. ...

. Females can release between 25,000 and 75,000 eggs. The fish may repeat this process multiple times. The eggs are pelagic and hatch into larvae after 15-20 hours. The larvae live among the plankton until they attain a length of around , after which they descend onto the reef where they settle.

Parasites

The gray angelfish has been recorded as a host for the following endoprasitic

trematode Trematoda is a class of flatworms known as flukes. They are obligate internal parasites with a complex life cycle requiring at least two hosts. The intermediate host, in which asexual reproduction occurs, is usually a snail. The definitive host ...

s '' Antorchis urna'', '' Cleptodiscus reticulatus'', '' Hamacreadium mutabile'', '' Hapladena megatyphlon'', '' Hexangitrema pomacanthi'', '' Hexangitrema pricei'', '' Phyllodistomum pomacanthi'', '' Pleurogonius candidulus'', '' Pleurogonius mcintoshi'', '' Pyelosomum erubescens'' and '' Theletrum fustiforme''. Known ectoparasites include the

copepods Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have p ...

Caligus atromaculatus ''Caligus'' is a genus of sea lice in the family Caligidae. The species are parasites of marine fishes and could be vectors of viruses. , the World Register of Marine Species includes the following species: *'' Caligus absens'' Ho, Lin & Chen, ...

'', '' Caligus longipedis'', '' Caligus xystercus'', '' Pseudanuretes parvulus'' and '' Thysanote pomacanthi''.

Systematics

The gray angelfish was first formally described in 1758 as ''Chaetodon arcuatus'' by Carolus Linnaeus in the 10th Edition of his

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

with the type locality given as “Indiis”. When

Lacépède Lacepede can refer to: * Bernard Germain de Lacépède (1756–1825), French naturalist and politician. * Lacepede Bay, a bay in South Australia. * Lacépède, Lot-et-Garonne, a ''commune'' in France * Lacepede Islands, a group of four islands in t ...

created the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Pomacanthus,'' he used Linnaeus’s ''Chaetodon arcuatus'' as its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. When ''Pomacanthus'' is subdivided into subgenera, this species is placed in the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Pomacanthus''. The specific name ''arcuatus'' means “bowed”, referring to the curved lines on the body.

Utilisation

The gray angelfish is a popular fish in the aquarium trade. Specimens enter the trade from Florida throughout the year. Between 1995 and 2000 over 12,000 fish of this species entered the trade, which originated in Brazil. The species has been bred in captivity. It is also caught in some areas for food. There have been reports of ciguatera poisoning from consumption of this species.

References

External links

* * Video o
Gray Angelfish
- Video taken in Belize off Ambergris Caye. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1543783

gray angelfish The gray angelfish (''Pomacanthus arcuatus''), also written as grey angelfish and known in Jamaica as the pot cover, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the marine angelfish Family (biology), family, Pomacanthidae. It is found in t ...

Fish of the Western Atlantic Fauna of the Southeastern United States