Scribbled angelfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Scribbled angelfish |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Pomacanthidae |
| Genus: | Chaetodontoplus |
| Species: |
C. duboulayi
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| Binomial name | |
| Chaetodontoplus duboulayi (Günther, 1867)
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| Synonyms | |
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Holacanthus duboulayi Günther, 1867 |
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The scribbled angelfish (scientific name: Chaetodontoplus duboulayi) is a beautiful fish that lives in the ocean. It's a type of marine angelfish and belongs to the family called Pomacanthidae. You can find this colorful fish in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Contents
What Does the Scribbled Angelfish Look Like?
The scribbled angelfish has a mostly blue body. It's covered with darker, wavy lines, almost like someone scribbled on it! Its snout, or nose area, is yellow. Its side fins, bottom fins, and tail fin are also yellow.
There is a yellow stripe along the top fin, called the dorsal fin. A wide yellow bar is behind its eye. The gill cover, called the operculum, is white.
Male and female scribbled angelfish look a bit different. This is called being sexually dimorphic. Males have wavy blue lines on their sides. Females have yellow or blue spots instead. This fish can grow up to about 28 centimeters (11 inches) long.
Where Do Scribbled Angelfish Live?
Scribbled angelfish live in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. They are found along the northern coast of Australia. This includes places from Shark Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in Queensland. They also live as far south as Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea.
You can also find them near the Aru Islands in Indonesia. They live along the southern coast of New Guinea. There have even been reports of them near Taiwan.
Home and Habits
Scribbled angelfish usually live in water that is 5 to 20 meters (16 to 65 feet) deep. They like coastal reefs and reefs close to shore. They often live in areas with rubble, soft sand, or open rocky spots. These areas might have rocks, corals, sponges, and sea whips.
These fish are usually seen swimming in small groups. They eat small creatures that live on the seafloor. Their favorite foods are sponges and tunicates. Like all other angelfish, they are protogynous hermaphrodites. This means they are all born female. The strongest females can later change into males.
How Scribbled Angelfish Reproduce
Scientists have studied how scribbled angelfish lay their eggs, which is called spawning. When they lay eggs, each egg is very tiny, about 0.9 millimeters (0.035 inches) in size.
After spawning, a female scribbled angelfish can lay a lot of eggs. She might lay anywhere from 5,000 to 33,000 eggs at one time!
Scribbled Angelfish in Aquariums
The scribbled angelfish is a very popular fish for home aquariums. People who love fish tanks really want them. In the past, it was hard to find them for sale. They were only sometimes sent out for the aquarium trade.
Now, it's a bit easier to get them. However, they can still be quite expensive. The good news is that people have learned how to breed them in captivity. This means more scribbled angelfish can be available without taking them from the wild.
