The French angelfish (''Pomacanthus paru'') 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 h ...

, 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 conf ...

belonging to the

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

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 conf ...

. It occurs in the Western Atlantic Ocean.

Description

The French angelfish has a laterally compressed body which is almost circular in shape. The head is deep with a short snout ending in a small mouth which contains numerous bristle-like teeth. There is an obvious spine at the corner of the preoperculum while there are no spines on the operculum or under the eye. 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 c ...

contains 10 spines and 29-31 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 22-24 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of . The juveniles are almost completely black apart from five vertical yellow bands the first around the mouth and the last at the

caudal peduncle 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 see ...

, the bands on the body are curved. 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 ...

has yellow margins. The adults are also mainly black but most of the scales on the body have a golden-yellow edge. They have a white mouth and a yellow

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...

. The

pectoral 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 ...

s have a wide orange-yellow band and the dorsal fin has a long yellow filamentous extension growing from its soft-rayed part.

Distribution

The French angelfish is found in the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

from New York and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and also the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an 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 the United ...

and the Caribbean, including the

Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...

, Roatan, and the eastern Atlantic from around Ascension Island and St. Paul's Rocks.

Habitat and biology

The French angelfish is found at depths between . It is common on rocky and coral reefs where it is normally encountered in pairs, frequently in the vicinity of sea fans. Its diet comprises sponges, algae,

bryozoans Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a l ...

, zoantharians, gorgonians, hydroids,

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

and

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 tim ...

. These pairs are highly territorial, and typically both vigorously defending their territory from their neighbours. Juveniles act as cleaner fish, establishing cleaning stations where they remove ectoparasites and clean a wide range of other fish species. Species recorded as being clients of juvenile French angelfish, include jacks, snappers, morays, grunts, surgeonfishes and

wrasses The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them le ...

.. When they are trying to draw client fish to the cleaning station the juvenile displays by using a fluttering swimming motion and as it cleans it touches the recipient of its service with its pelvic fins. These fish are active during the daylight hours, but seek shelter in their designated hiding spot where they return every night. They can produce a knocking sound when alarmed. The pair normally swim a short distance above the reef. There are no obvious courtship displays or clear sexual dimorphism. At dusk, the pair swam upwards in a wide, shallow curve from the substrate, travelling around 7 to 10 m horizontally as they climb to a . As they ascend, both angle their bodies slightly, with their vents very close together, even touching. They hold this posture throughout the zenith of their curve separating as they descend. Neighbouring pairs were observed undertaking similar movements above the reef at roughly the same time. The observers were unable to ascertain if

gametes A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. In species that produce ...

were released in these displays. Neighbouring pairs were not seen interfering with these displays. This species is a protogynous hermaphrodite, the female can change sex to become a male if no male is present.

Systematics

The French angelfish was first formally described as ''Chaetodon paru'' by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 and Jamaica. The species is placed by some authorities in the subgenus ''Pomacanthus'',. The specific name of this species, ''paru'' is the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

name for this species.

Utilisation

The French angelfish is common in the aquarium trade, collection and export to the United States and European markets being common in Brazil. it has been bred in captivity. It is harvested for food, its flesh being considered highly palatable, although it has been reported to be a source of

ciguatera Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known simply as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vom ...

poisoning in humans.

References

External links

Video of a Juvenile French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru)
��Jim W. Arch 19:15, 20 May 2014 (UTC)
Salty Endeavors discussed the French Angelfish juvenile compared to a Grey Angelfish juvenile
Henry S. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q369441 French angelfish Fish of the Western Atlantic French angelfish