Queen angelfish

퀸엔젤피시

The queen angelfish is a dazzling reef fish of the Caribbean and western Atlantic. Its blue-and-yellow body has electric-blue fin edges and a dark 'crown' spot ringed in blue on the forehead. It grows to about 45 cm and eats mainly sponges.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Class: Fish
Lives in: Coral reefs of the Caribbean and western Atlantic, here off Curaçao
Diet: Eats both plants and meat (omnivore)
Length: about 0.45 m
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN LC)
Habitat: coral reefs

Quick answers

Where does the Queen angelfish live?

It lives in coral reefs of the Atlantic Ocean. On the globe you can find it near Coral reefs of the Caribbean and western Atlantic, here off Curaçao.

How big is the Queen angelfish?

It grows to about 0.45 m.

What does the Queen angelfish eat?

Its diet: eats both plants and meat (omnivore).

Is the Queen angelfish endangered?

It is listed as Least Concern (IUCN LC).

The queen angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris) is a dazzling reef fish of the western Atlantic and the Caribbean. Its body is blue and yellow, with electric-blue edges on the fins. On its forehead is a dark spot ringed in blue that looks like a little crown, which is how it got its name.

It lives on warm coral reefs near the sea floor. It can grow up to about 45 centimetres and eats mainly sponges. It is popular in the aquarium trade, but the wild population appears stable, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern. It is a bottom-dwelling fish of the reef.

Crown and cousins

The crown helps tell it apart from the similar Bermuda blue angelfish, which lives in the same area. The two species can interbreed, producing a hybrid known as the Townsend angelfish. Carl Linnaeus first described the queen angelfish in 1758. Its species name ciliaris means 'fringed', which refers to its fringed scales. The Townsend angelfish is the name of that hybrid.

Harems and young

Queen angelfish live in small harems, with one male and up to four females, in a territory where females search for food separately. They breed around the full moon, and the see-through eggs float in the water until they hatch. Young queen angelfish look different from adults and act as cleaner fish, picking small pests off other fish. These habits were described from careful observation of the species on reefs.

Fun facts

A blue-ringed dark spot on its forehead looks like a crown, giving it the name 'queen'.
The dark spot on its forehead looks like a crown.
It can breed with the Bermuda blue angelfish.
Young queen angelfish clean other fish.