Ornate Angelfish, Genicanthus bellus Randall 1975
A male Ornate Angelfish, Genicanthus bellus, at the Ski Run dive site, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, January 2015. Source: cocos_karen / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial
Males and females of this small angelfish are strikingly sexually dichromatic. Juveniles and females are greyish to bluish with broad black bands and a blue patch on the lower sides. Males are pale bluish to greyish with a golden mid-lateral stripe and another along the dorsal-fin base.
Ornate Angelfish live in small haremic groups with a male and up to 6 females. If the male disappears the dominant female will change sex and colour pattern over 2-3 weeks.
Ornate Angelfish, Genicanthus bellus Randall 1975
More Info
Distribution |
Recorded in the Australian region from Holmes Reef in the Coral Sea off the Great Barrier Reef, and also in the Australian territories of Christmas Island and Cocos-Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the tropical east-Indo-west-central-Pacific: Cocos-Keeling Islands, Indonesia, Philippines, Mariana, Marshall and Society islands. Usually inhabits deep reefs, often in groups along deep current-swept outer reef drop-offs at depths to 110 m, usually below 50 m. |
Features |
Dorsal fin XV, 15-16; Anal fin III, 16-17; Longitudinal scale series 46-48. |
Colour |
Sexually dimorphic in colour: Males are pale greyish with a golden mid-lateral stripe, a golden stripe along the dorsal-fin base and blue margins on the fins. Females are greyish to bluish with a broad black diagonal band bounded by white from above the gill cover to the lower caudal lobe, an elongate blue patch on the lower side, a broad black bar through the eye, a black dorsal fin with a red submarginal band and a black outer upper caudal fin lobe giving a scissor-tail appearance. |
Feeding |
Planktivore - forms shoals in midwater to feed on zooplankton, including pelagic tunicates. Will also consume benthic invertebrates such as polychaetes and bryozoans and algae |
Biology |
Forms small harems of 3-7 individuals, with a single male and up to six females. If the male disappears, the dominant female gradually changes sex and colour pattern over a period of 2-3 weeks. |
Fisheries |
Traded in the aquarium industry, although rarely collected due to its deep-water habitat. |
Etymology |
The specific name is from the Latin bellus (= beautiful), "as it is the most colorful of all the species of the genus". |
Species Citation |
Genicanthus bellus Randall 1975, Bulletin of Marine Science 25(3): 402, pl. 1. Type locality: Outside barrier reef off District of Paea, Tahiti, Society Islands, depth 60 m. |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2020 |
Resources |
Ornate Angelfish, Genicanthus bellus Randall 1975
References
Allen, G.R. 1980. Butterfly and Angelfishes of the World. New York : John Wiley & Sons Vol. 2 pp. 149-352 figs 214-510.
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & Allen, M. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Cairns : Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research 250 pp. figs.
Hobbs, J.-P.A., Frisch, A.J. Hender, J. & Gilligan, J.J. 2007. New records of angelfishes (Pomacanthidae) and butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) from Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) islands, Indian Ocean. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 90: 107-109.
Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202 https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/rbz/supplement-no-30/
Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219 https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/rbz/supplement-no-30/
Kuiter, R.H., Debelius, H. & Tanaka, H. 2003. Pomacanthidae, a Comprehensive Guide to Angelfishes. Melbourne : Zoonetics 206 pp.
Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 2. Fusiliers - Dragonets, Caesionidae - Callionymidae. Australia : Zoonetics pp. 304-622.
Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam : Coral Graphics vi 330 pp. 192 pls.
Pyle, R. 2001. Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae. pp. 3224-3286 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.
Pyle, R.L. 2003. A systematic treatment of the reef-fish family Pomacanthidae (Pisces: Perciformes). PhD dissertation, Honolulu: University of Hawai’i, 422 pp, http://hdl.handle.net/10125/6906
Pyle, R., Myers, R. & Craig, M.T. 2010. Genicanthus bellus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010: e.T165864A6151980. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165864A6151980.en. Downloaded on 12 October 2019.
Randall, J.E. 1975. A revision of the Indo-Pacific angelfish genus Genicanthus, with descriptions of three new species. Bulletin of Marine Science 25(3): 393-421 See ref online
Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.