Half a meter (20 in) of blue-gray angelfish with a yellow crescent curving down its side, cruising a wreck or a slope at an unhurried pace and turning away exactly when the camera is ready.
The crescent is the field mark. Its neighbor the Arabian Angelfish carries a broad straight yellow bar; on this fish the yellow curves and tapers toward the belly like a comma. Both are blue, both are large, and both are constantly mixed up.
It is one of the larger angelfishes and one of the more adaptable: it does well on silty inshore reefs and around wrecks, where the sponges and tunicates it feeds on grow thickly, and it is more tolerant of poor visibility than most of its family.
Angelfish of this size make a low drumming sound when alarmed, produced with muscles against the swim bladder - divers occasionally feel it rather than hear it. Juveniles look entirely different, black with curved pale bars, and work as cleaners on the reef before they take up the adult pattern.
The genus. Pomacanthus Lacepède 1802 - poma (lid or cover) + acanthus (thorn or spine). ETYFish
The species. Pomacanthus maculosus (Forsskål 1775) - spotted. ETYFish
- blue-gray body with a curved yellow crescent tapering toward the belly
- fine blue speckling over the body, yellow tail
- juveniles black with curved white and blue bars
- length up to 50 cm
Why it's threatened
There appear to be no major threats to this species. Collection for the aquarium trade and subsistence fisheries is localized and do not seem to affect the global population.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
