''Pomacanthus maculosus'', the yellowbar angelfish, half-moon angelfish, yellow-marked angelfish, yellowband angelfish or yellow-blotched angelfish, 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 ...

, a marine angelfish belonging to the

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 Indian Ocean and, more recently, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Description

''Pomacanthus maculosus'' has a deep and compressed body with a small mouth that is equipped with small bristle-like teeth. They have an obvious spine at the angle of 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 ...

. The adults have filaments extending back from the soft-rayed parts of the dorsal and

anal 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 ...

s, reaching past the caudal fin. The background colour of adults is brownish blue with each scale having a blue margin creating the impression that it is predominantly blue. There is an uneven, yellow bar close to the centre of the flanks with dark blue, vertically elongated spots towards the head. 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 wavy, blue lines on a pale yellow background. The juveniles are mainly black marked with many, arced, vertical blue lines and three broader white lines. Only the rear third of the caudal fin is yellow. The dorsal fin has 12–13 spines and 21 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 19–20 soft rays. This species attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution

''Pomacanthus maculosus'' is found in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

and

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

. It has been recorded on distinct but rare occasions since 2008 in the eastern

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

.Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Pomacanthus maculosus). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Pomacanthus_maculosus.pdf It has also been recorded off Florida and Brazil, regarded as an instance of deliberate releases from an aquarium.

Habitat and biology

''Pomacanthus maculosus'' is found at depths of between . It is a solitary species that lives in sheltered areas, often where there is a mixture of coral and silt. Their diet is dominated by

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 ...

and tunicates, although other invertebrates will be eaten opportunistically. The females attain sexual maturity when the reach around 5.5 years of age and a total length of . The maximum longevity is thought to be 36 years old. Divers have noted that this is a curious species and is not shy. They are

protogynous hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

s and the older females can change sex to become males when there is a shortage of males. The larvae are

planktonic Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

Systematics

''Pomacanthus maculosus'' was first formally described in 1775 as ''Chaetodon maculosus'' in 1775 by the Finnish born Swede Peter Forsskål (1732–1763) the type locality is given as Al-Luhayya in Yemen. Some authorities place this species 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 ...

''Arusetta''. The specific name ''maculosus'' means “spotted” and a reference to either the blue spots on the scales or the large yellow blotch.

Utilisation

''Pomacanthus maculosus'' is occasionally collected for the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade. In some parts of the Persian Gulf it has been recorded in fish markets.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q451679 maculosus Fish described in 1775 Taxa named by Peter Forsskål