The rock beauty (''Holacanthus tricolor''), also known as corn sugar, coshubba, rock beasty, catalineta, and yellow nanny, 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 Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confu ...

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 Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confu ...

. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The rock beauty has an deep oval and strongly compressed body, with a short snout, ending in a small mouth equipped with bristle-like teeth. There is a large spine in the angle of the

preopercle The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contains four bon ...

which has a serrated vertical edge. The bone lying between the preopercle and

gill cover The operculum is a series of bones found in bony fish and chimaeras that serves as a facial support structure and a protective covering for the gills; it is also used for respiration and feeding. Anatomy The opercular series contains four bon ...

has 1-4 large spines. The juveniles are yellowish on their body and fins, with a blue margined black spot on the upper posterior part of the body. As they mature into adults the spot grows, eventually covering most of the body and the lower part of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

and the upper part of then

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 ...

. The head and anterior quarter of the body are yellow, as are the

pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectoralis ...

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

and

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 ...

s. The mouth is purple. the front edge of the anal fin and margin of operculum are orange. In the eye there is vivid blue on the upper and lower portions of the

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

. In the dorsal fin there are 14 spines and 17-19 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 18-20 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of .

Distribution

The rock beauty is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean where it ranges from

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and the waters off

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

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 ...

in southwards through the Caribbean Sea and along the coasts of South America as far as Rio de Janeiro. It is uncommon and localised in the Gulf of Mexico where it only occurs at the Flower Gardens Banks off

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and off Veracruz and on the

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in Mexico.

Habitat and biology

The rock beauty is found at depths between . They occur around jetties, rocky reefs and coral reefs, while the juveniles are often seen in areas of

fire coral Fire corals (''Millepora'') are a genus of colonial marine organisms that exhibit physical characteristics similar to that of coral. The name coral is somewhat misleading, as fire corals are not true corals but are instead more closely related ...

. They feed largely on

sponge 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 t ...

s but will also eat corals, zoantharians, bryozoans, gorgonians,https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Holacanthus_tricolor%20-%20Rock%20Beauty%20Angelfish.pdf

tunicates A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ca ...

and

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

. The adults are normally encountered as pairs and appear to form long term monogamous pairs. These pairs frequently consist of a larger individual and a smaller one, possibly indicating

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, although there is no

sexual dichromatism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. During mating the pair ascends in the water column, with their abdomens close together while they 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. ...

into the water. A female can lay between 25,000 and 75,000 eggs in an evening, and up to 10 million in a season. The transparent eggs are pelagic and float in the water, hatching after 15–20 hours. The initial larvae have a large yolk sac and lack functional eyes, gut or fins. After 48 hours the yolk is absorbed and the larvae have more of a resemblance to normal fish. These larvae feed on plankton in the water. They grow rapidly, and after around 3–4 weeks from hatching they settle on the substrate. They are highly territorial but, unlike some related species, they do not act as

cleaner fish Cleaner fish are fish that show a specialist feeding strategy by providing a service to other species, referred to as clients, by removing dead skin, ectoparasites, and infected tissue from the surface or gill chambers. This example of cleaning ...

. Their diet is thought to be plankton, benthic invertebrates and the mucus secreted by other fish.

Systematics

The rock beauty was first formally described in 1795 as ''Chaetodon tricolor'' by the

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physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as Brazil. When

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's great work, the ...

created the genus '' Holocanthus'' he used ''Chaetodon tricolor'' as the

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 ...

. The species is placed by some authorities in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

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 ...

''Holacanthus'', all the others being in the subgenus ''Angelichthys''. The specific name of this species, ''tricolor'', refers to the three colour pattern of some adults which have a yellow front and black rear to the body with ref fin margins.

Utilisation

The rock beauty is one of the more popular Caribbean marine angelfish in the aquarium trade. It has become available as a captive bred specimens in the 2020s.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q729897 rock beauty Fish of the Western Atlantic rock beauty Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch