The orangeback angelfish (''Centropyge acanthops''), also known as the flameback angelfish, African pygmy angelfish and in South Africa as the Jumping Bean or Bean, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of ray-finned fish, 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 Pomacanthidae. It is found in the western Indian Ocean.

Description

The orangeback angelfish has the head, upper flanks, 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 ...

and 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 s ...

are golden yellow in colour. The lower flanks and the

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 s ...

are black with many dense purple spots. Their eyes are ringed with blue. 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

The orangeback angelfish is found in the western Indian Ocean. It occurs along the East African coast from Somalia south to

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

in the

Eastern Cape Province The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 19 ...

, as well as Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, the

Chagos Islands The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...

and the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. The ...

. In Asia it has been recorded from the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Chan ...

and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

off Yemen, including

Socotra Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen� ...

, and Oman as well as the Maldives. It has also been recorded from the Australian territory of the

Cocos (Keeling) Islands ) , anthem = "'' Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

Habitat and biology

The orangeback angelfish is found at depths between , usually near coral and frequently in area of coral rubble where it likes to hide among the rubble. It prefers areas with dense algal growth and it grazes on algae and small invertebrates. It is a social species which is typically encountered in groups of up to 10 fishes. They are protogynous hermaphrodites in which the most dominant female in a group becomes male, this can be reversed if the dominance is lost. This species spawns at dusk, the male bites the females on the abdomen to stimulate her to lay eggs he fertilises and the eggs are then left to drift on the current.

Systematics

The orangeback angelfish was first formally described as ''Holacanthus acanthops'' in 1922 by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

John Roxborough Norman (1898-1944) with the type locality given as

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. In some classifications it is placed in the subgenus ''Xiphipops''. The specific name ''acanthops'' is a compound of ''acanthus'' meaning “spine” and ''ops'' meaning “eye” and is a reference to the rearward directed spine under the eye.

Utilisation

The orangeback angelfish is common and popular in the aquarium trade. It has been bred in captivity.

References

External links

Centropyge.net info page
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3643498 orangeback angelfish Fish of Madagascar Fauna of the Maldives Fauna of the Mascarene Islands Fish of the Comoros Fauna of Seychelles Marine fauna of East Africa Fish of the Indian Ocean orangeback angelfish