''Centropyge ferrugata'', the rusty angelfish, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

, a marine angelfish belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 co ...

. The rusty angelfish comes from the Western Pacific Ocean and sometimes makes its way into the aquarium trade.

Description

''Centropyge ferrugata'' has a brownish-orange body marked with black spots on the upper flanks. The caudal,

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

and

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

s have a bright blue margin. The dorsal fin contains 14 spines and 17 soft rays while the

has 3 spines and 17-18 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of .

Distribution

''Centropyge ferrugata'' is found in the western Pacific Ocean. Its range extends from Tanabe Bay southern Japan to southern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and the Philippines.

Habitat and biology

''Centropyge ferrugata'' is found at depths between . They live on seaward rocky reefs and in areas of rubble, particularly with dense algal growth. The fish can be found living alone as a solitary species or living in small groups. It is frequently observed grazing on mats of filamentous algae. It also eats

detritus In biology, detritus ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposition, decomposing remains of organisms and plants, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decomposition, decompose (Reminera ...

, coral

polyps A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are roughly cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body. In solitary polyps, the aboral (opposite to oral) en ...

sponges Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and ar ...

and small

gastropods Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and from the land. Ther ...

. This species is a

protogynous hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodite ...

, the dominant female in a group will change sex if there is no male.

Systematics

''Centropyge ferrugata'' was first formally described in 1972 by John Ernest Randall (1924-2020) and Warren E. Burgess with the type locality given as a reef one half mile off the harbour of Ishigaki City, Ishigaki,

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

. Within the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Centropyge ''Centropyge'' is a genus of ray-finned fish, marine angelfish belonging to the family (biology), family Pomacanthidae found in the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean. These species do not exceed 15 centimeter, cm in ...

'' this species is considered, by some authorities, to be in the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( 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 the ge ...

''Centropyge''.

Utilisation

''Centropyge ferrugata'' is found in the

aquarium An aquarium (: 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. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

trade and it has been bred and successfully reared in captivity.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3108591 ferrugata Fish described in 1972