The French angelfish (''Pomacanthus paru'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. 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 This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

while there are no spines on the operculum or under the eye. The dorsal fin contains 10 spines and 29-31 soft rays while 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 se ...

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, the bands on the body are curved. The caudal fin 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. The pectoral fins 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 from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and the Bahamas to Brazil, and also the Gulf of Mexico and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, including the Antilles, Roatan, and the eastern Atlantic from around

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...

and

St. Paul's Rocks The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago ( pt, Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo ) is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean.

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 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 ...

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 ...

, bryozoans, zoantharians,

gorgonians Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

, hydroids, coral and tunicates. 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 Snapper(s) may refer to: Animals * Lutjanidae, a family of fish known as snappers **'' Lutjanus campechanus'', a fish found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of the United States ** Bigeye snapper (''Lutjanus lutjanus''), a fish tha ...

, morays, grunts, surgeonfishes and wrasses.. 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 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 physician and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

given as Brazil and Jamaica. The species is placed by some authorities 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 ...

''Pomacanthus'',. The specific name of this species, ''paru'' is the Portuguese name for this species.

Utilisation

The French angelfish is common in 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, 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 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