Species profile—Centropyge heraldi (yellow angelfish)
Classification
Animalia (animals) → Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) → Pomacanthidae (anglefishes) → Centropyge heraldi (yellow angelfish)
Sighting data
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.
