Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Pomacanthidae (Angelfishes)
Etymology: Holacanthus: Greek, holos = full + Greek, akantha = thorn (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 1 - 70 m (Ref. 9710). Subtropical, preferred ?; 32°N - 8°N, 98°W - 57°W (Ref. 55265)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Florida, USA and Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. Eastern Central Atlantic: St. Paul's Rocks (Ref. 13121).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m 22.0 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 45.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4858); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3797); max. published weight: 1.6 kg (Ref. 26340)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 19-21; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 20 - 21. Tail and pectoral fins entirely yellow. Black spot on forehead has electric blue spots and is surrounded by narrow, electric blue ring. Large blue spot at base of pectoral fin (Ref. 26938). Adults develop short spines on the margin. The color of large adults is purplish blue with yellow-orange rims to the scales; head above eye dark blue, below greenish yellow; mouth, chin, throat, chest and abdomen purplish blue (Ref. 13442)

Found on coral reefs. Generally occurs solitarily or in pairs. Moves gracefully between seafans, seawhips, and corals (Ref. 9710). Stomach contents of 26 specimens indicate that the species feeds almost exclusively on sponges supplemented by small amounts of algae, tunicates, hydroids and bryozoans. Young pick ectoparasites from other fishes (Ref. 9710). Marketed fresh (Ref. 3797).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1985. Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. Vol. 2. 3rd edit. in English. Mergus Publishers, Melle, Germany. (Ref. 4858)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Least Concern (LC)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30303)

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial

FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

Holacanthus ciliaris (Linnaeus, 1758)