This tiny two-inch-long fish will grow into a dinner plate sized fish!
This tiny two-inch-long fish will grow into a dinner plate sized fish! This juvenile queen angelfish will maintain the same coloration as it grows to adulthood, however their pattern will change. Only juvenile queen angelfish have the iridescent blue vertical bars (typically ~3). Also, the eye-popping blue iridescence that trims its fins and covers its face will fade as it ages. The yellow mouth of the juvenile queen angelfish becomes a blue mouth as the fish gets older. The yellow eyes will remain throughout the lifetime of the queen angelfish, which is typically around 15 years.
Why do they call it a queen angelfish? This is because this fish has a crown. As the queen angelfish gets older (not as a juvenile), it starts to form an iridescent blue circle on the top of its head. Then inside this circle, colorful dots form like jewels on a crown. This feature makes the queen angelfish easy to identify underwater.
These fish are found throughout Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda, Caribbean, and all the way south to Brazil. They are considered a common sighting in the Florida Keys where I took this photograph. As juveniles, they are considered cleaners of larger fish. A cleaner fish will remove parasites, dead skin, and mucus from the mouth and gill areas of a larger fish. The larger fish benefit from the hygiene boost, and the small cleaner fish benefit from an easy food source.
Queen angelfish are typically found near the bottom in shallow waters (usually less than 80 feet deep). Fortunately, this is also where most people scuba dive! Queen angelfish live on coral reefs and are often seen alone or in pairs. Their primary diet is sponges. Queen angelfish will also eat tunicates, algae, jellyfish, and plankton.
The male angelfish will have a territory and two to four female queen angelfish in his harem. Interestingly, if the male disappears from the harem of females, the largest female may transform into a male.
Queen angelfish are typically found near the bottom in shallow waters
Did you know?
- Queen angelfish are rarely eaten and not commercially fished. Unfortunately, queen angelfish are targeted by the aquarium trade.
- Adult male queen angelfish grow to be larger than adult female queen angelfish.
- Some other species of angelfish found in the Florida Keys include French Angelfish, Blue Angelfish, and Gray Angelfish.
- The Florida Keys is home to ~800 islands spanning over ~180 miles. The word "key" comes from the Spanish word, "cayo" which translates to "small island".
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