Juvenile Emperor Angelfish

Juvenile Emperor Angelfish
Pomacanthus Imperator

Before it grows into one of the reef’s great showstoppers, the Emperor Angelfish spends its youth looking like a tiny optical illusion. Deep blue-black curves around the body in tight white and electric-blue rings, with the pattern seeming to twist and fold as the fish moves. The result is wonderfully hypnotic, less like a miniature version of the adult and more like a completely different fish that happens to be keeping the same name.

• Size: Juveniles are typically under 8–12 cm; the species can grow to around 40 cm
• Range: Indo-Pacific; from the Red Sea and East Africa across to the Line and Tuamotu Islands, north to southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef, New Caledonia and the Austral Islands
• Habitat / Depth: Coral reefs, reef flats and sheltered reef cavities; juveniles often hide beneath ledges and in holes, from shallow water to around 60 m
• Diet: Feeds on sponges, tunicates and other encrusting organisms

Photo by Steve Smith