The fish species of the Caribbean Sea are often overlooked by marine aquarists. I’ve spent ample time beneath the waters of the Caribbean, and the reefs have a unique feeling and flair, un-matched by any other tropical sea. Since they don’t contain the sheer number of species as the South Pacific or other oceanic ecosystems, we often miss-out on some real jewels when deciding on a new tenant for a reef or fish only tank. Some aquarists are keeping a Caribbean species right now, and don’t even know it. Reef purists and those creating biotope tanks don’t like to mix Caribbean species with any fish they wouldn’t encounter in nature. Personally, I’ve kept both biotope aquariums and mixed reefs, and never had any problems introducing a few Caribbean species into a tank with fish from all over the world. When you consider the sheer number of oceans worldwide, it’s difficult to ensure that fish within your aquarium have encountered the exact species that you keep, unless you spend your entire focus making detailed stocking decisions.
That said, let’s take a look at the beautiful French angelfish, Pomacanthus paru. The French angelfish inhabits waters off of New York, ranging down into the Bahamas, Brazil and throughout the Caribbean Sea. I’ve seen them in mass numbers off the island of Roaton, Honduras, and throughout the dive sites off of Nassau Island, Bahamas. They exist at depths of 10 feet, down to about 600 feet, and school in large numbers around shallow reef crests or artificial reefs, such as sunken ships. They are especially common on rich moderate depth reefs, where they cruise in between gorgonians, and pair near sea fans.
Many people don’t realize that both the French angelfish and the queen angelfish are cleaners, offering this service to a variety of species, including surgeonfish, wrasses, moray eels, grunts and jacks. My queen angelfish is an avid and effective cleaner, displaying the behavior so often, that smaller species become annoyed and steer clear of the queen.
On wild reefs, French angelfish feed on sponge, algae, gorgonians, zoanthids and tunicates. They are a guaranteed coral picker, and any polyp or LPS coral is most likely to perish beneath the lips of a French angelfish. In my experience, they are avid SPS nippers as well, totally destroying colonies in a matter of days. I couldn’t in good conscience recommend a French angelfish for anything other than a fish only display, and that same can be said about the queen angelfish.… More:
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