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Species profile—Centropyge heraldi (yellow angelfish)

Classification

Animalia (animals) → Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) → Pomacanthidae (anglefishes) → Centropyge heraldi (yellow angelfish)

Sighting data

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Species details

Kingdom
Animalia (animals)
Class
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Family
Pomacanthidae (anglefishes)
Scientific name
Centropyge heraldi Woods & Schultz, 1953
Common name
yellow angelfish
WildNet taxon ID
32126
Conservation significant
No
Wetland status
Wetland Dependant Species
Endemicity
Native
Pest status
Nil
Description
Females and juveniles are uniformly yellow. The male develops dark shading and orange spots near the eye. They grow to a maximum length of 10cm.
Distribution
The yellow angelfish occurs in the tropical marine waters of the Pacific Ocean, from Taiwan to the Tuamoto Islands, north to southern Japan, and south to Australia. In Australia the species is found from Lizard Island to Lady Musgrave Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. It is also known from Holmes Reef in the Coral Sea.
Distributional limits
0, 0
0, 0
Species environment
Marine
Habitat
The yellow angelfish is a deep water species, found in depths in excess of 40m. It is common only on rubble slopes at the base of drop-offs on outer barrier reefs.
Behaviour
The yellow angelfish occurs in small groups. Male angelfish defend their territory by driving away other male competitors. This is performed in order to maintain access to a mate. Like many angelfish species, the yellow angelfish probably shelters in caves or coral crevices.
Reproduction
For many species of angelfish, spawning (mating) occurs at dusk. Usually a single pair, although sometimes a small group, will congregate off the ocean bottom. When a female arrives nearby, the male performs a courtship display. This involves erecting his fins and swimming rapidly back and forth. Then the male and female swim spiralling toward the surface, where they simultaneously shed eggs and sperm, before returning to the ocean bottom. The eggs are less than 1mm in diameter and hatch 15-20 hours later.
Notes
Contributors: Mellisa Mayhew 17/07/2008; Wayne Martin 09/11/2008
References
Egerton, L. (ed.) (2005). Encyclopedia of Australian Wildlife, (Revised Edition). Readers Digest Pty Ltd, Sydney.
Froese, R. & Pauly, D. (eds). (2008). FishBase, version (09/2008). World Wide Web electronic publication, Accessed 09/11/2008 .
Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & Allen, G.R. (2006). Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Volume 35.2, p. 1304. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Collingwood.
Kuiter, R.H. (1996). Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland Ltd, Sydney.
Profile author
Mellisa Mayhew (09/11/2008)

Other resources

Data source

This profile data is sourced from the QLD Wildlife Data API using the Get species by ID function used under CC-By 4.0.
https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/species/?op=getspeciesbyid&taxonid=32126.

This information is sourced from the WildNet database managed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.

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Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Last updated
20 May 2024