Indian yellowtail angelfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Indian yellowtail angelfish |
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| Apolemichthys xanthurus at Cinéaqua aquarium | |
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Holacanthus xanthurus Bennett, 1833 |
The Apolemichthys xanthurus, also known as the Indian yellowtail angelfish, is a beautiful fish that lives in the ocean. It belongs to a group of fish called marine angelfish. People also call it the cream angelfish, smoke angelfish, or yellowtail black angelfish. You can find this fish in the Indian Ocean.
What They Look Like
The Indian yellowtail angelfish has a creamy body color. It has a cool pattern of dark lines on its scales, which looks like a net. The edges of its body are a solid dark color.
Its tail fin, called the caudal fin, is bright yellow. Its top fin, the dorsal fin, and its bottom fin, the anal fin, are black with a white edge. This fish also has a yellow spot near its eye, but the black color on its head doesn't reach this spot.
When these fish are young, they look a bit different. They have a wide black stripe across their eye and a black patch on their back. As they grow older, this black patch fades away. This angelfish can grow up to about 15 centimeters (6 inches) long.
Where They Live
The Indian yellowtail angelfish lives in the Indian Ocean. You can find them around places like the Mascarenes islands, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the eastern coast of India. They have also been seen near Myanmar and Thailand, and some reports say they are in Sulawesi too.
Habitat and Diet
These angelfish usually swim alone or in pairs. They like to live on coral reefs and rocky reefs, usually at depths from 5 to 85 meters (about 16 to 279 feet).
They are not picky eaters! They munch on different things like small crustaceans (like tiny crabs or shrimp), sponges, and algae (seaweed).
About Their Name
The Indian yellowtail angelfish was first officially described in 1833 by a British naturalist named Edward Turner Bennett. Its scientific name, xanthurus, means "yellow tail." This name perfectly describes its bright yellow tail, which is also why it's called the "yellowtail angelfish"!
Sometimes, this angelfish might even mix with other types of angelfish, like the Apolemichthys trimaculatus. When they do, they create a new kind of fish that scientists have called A. armitagei.
Conservation Status
The Indian yellowtail angelfish is quite popular in the aquarium hobby. It's known to be one of the toughest and easiest marine angelfish to keep in a home aquarium.
Not many of these fish are taken from the wild. For example, in 2003, only 100 were allowed to be exported from the Maldives. Because of this, collecting them from the wild is not a big threat to their numbers. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) lists this species as "Least Concern". This means they are not currently at risk of disappearing.
