Spotbreast Angelfish

The spotbreast angelfish belongs to Genicanthus, the swallowtail angels of the family Pomacanthidae, known for their deeply forked tails. Few reef fish are so strongly dimorphic: males are bluish white, crossed by fine dark bars and marked with the black breast spot that names the species, while females are yellow above and bluish white below. It reaches 18 cm. The species ranges across the Western Pacific, from Indonesia to Fiji and from the Ryukyu Islands south to New Caledonia. A deep-water fish, it lives between 20 and 80 m along steep outer reef slopes and coral-rich drop-offs, forming pairs or loose groups of females dominated by a single male, picking zooplankton from open water. Allow 450 litres: this tireless swimmer needs open water, brisk flow and live rock. Keep it singly, as a pair, or as one male with a harem, never two males. Its small mouth calls for several light daily meals of mysis, enriched brine shrimp and spirulina. A planktivore, it is one of the very few angels that is genuinely reef safe, though it wants a mature, stable tank.