Queen Angelfish

Appearance

The adult queen angelfish overall body color can be described as blue to blue-green with yellow rims on its scales. Their pectoral and ventral fins are also yellow but their lips and the edges of their dorsal fins and anal fins are dark blue. Queen angelfish are also known to have blue markings around each gill cover. Juveniles have dark blue bodies with yellow lips, gills, and tail and vertical bars ranging in color from light blue to white. The colors of the juvenile fish help them to blend in with the reefs. The queen angelfish may live up to 15 years in the wild and reach up to 45 centimeters in length. Queen angelfish are about three and a half pounds.

Like other angelfish, much of its locomotion is produced by the pectoral fins. The outer 40% of each fin can be used to produce up to 80% of the fish's total thrust.

Distribution

Queen angelfish inhabit reefs and are common near Florida especially the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and the Gulf of Mexico. It is rarely seen in the Bermuda Triangle and as far south as Brazil.

Food

The queen angelfish feeds primarily on sponges, but also feeds on tunicates, jellyfish, and corals as well as plankton and algae. Juveniles serve as "cleaners" and feed on the parasites of larger fish at cleaning stations. Although in home aquariums, aquarists have been successful in providing the queen angelfish a diet of meaty and algae based foods.