Pi168 Pomacanthus imperator (Emperor angelfish)

 Pi168                                            Pomacanthus imperator (Emperor angelfish)

 

Phylum   : Chordata

Class       : Actinopterygii  

Order      : Perciformes

Family    : Pomocanthidae

Genus     : Pomocanthus

Species    : H. imperator

 

 

Description

Habitats:  Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 1 - 100 m

 

Distribution: Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Line and Tuamoto islands, North to southern Japan and the Ogasawara Islands, South to the Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia, and the Austral Islands

 

Morphology: The Emperor angelfish can reach the 40 cm. The body is laterally compressed, more or less oval and higher than the congeners, with a showy spine at the base of the preoperculum as the scientific name indicates. The dorsal fin has 13-14 spiny rays and 17-21 soft; the anal has 3 spiny rays and 18-21 soft; the ventral and the pectoral ones are unarmed and the caudal is more or less rounded. The snout is pale blue surrounded by a blue edge which prolongs on the preopercular spine and reappears on the head, after the dark band hiding the eye. The front is yellow with greenish shades and the area close to the pectoral ones is dark blue, almost black like the low ventral part, surrounded by the usual blue edge. But the peculiar feature, which leaps to the eye, is formed by the numerous yellow stripes, on turquoise blue background, that cross the body. The border of the dorsal and the caudal fins is yellow, whilst the anal fin shows some pale blue and reddish patterns on the dark background

 

 

IUCN status: Least Concern