Centropyge heraldi, the yellow angelfish or Herald's angelfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. It comes from the Pacific Ocean and sometimes makes its way into the aquarium trade.

Centropyge heraldi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Pomacanthidae
Genus: Centropyge
Species:
C. heraldi
Binomial name
Centropyge heraldi
Woods & Schultz, 1953
Synonyms[2]

Pomacanthus heraldi (Woods & Schultz, 1953)

Etymology

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The angelfish is named after Earl Stannard Herald. He died in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, in a scuba diving accident.[3]

Description

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Centropyge heraldi is a yellowish orange fish. There is a patch of darker olive, with some spots concolorous with the body, within it around the eye.[4] The dorsal fin contains 15 spines and 15 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of 12 centimetres (4.7 in).[2]

Distribution

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Centropyge heraldi has a wide range in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. This range extends from southern Japan and Taiwan east as far as the Tuamotu Islands and south to Australia.[1] In Australia it can be found along the Great Barrier Reef south to the Solitary Islands in New South Wales, as well as on some Coral Sea reefs.[4]

Habitat and biology

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Centropyge heraldi is found at depths between 8 and 45 metres (26 and 148 ft) and is most commonly recorded on outer reef slopes, and occasionally on lagoon reefs.[1] This species is usually found in small harems of a male and one to three females. Females may change to males when there is no male present.[4] It is a herbivorous species which feeds on filamentous algae.[1]

Systematics

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Centropyge heraldi was first formally described in 1953 by the Americans Loren Paul Woods (1914-1979) and Leonard Peter Schultz (1901-1986) with the type locality given as Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.[5] The specific name honours the American ichthyologist and public aquarium director Earl Stannard Herald (1914-1973) who assisted in the collection of the type. Within the genus Centropyge this species is considered, by some authorities, to be in the subgenus Centropyge.[3]

Utilisation

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Centropyge heraldi sometimes appears in the aquarium trade.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Pyle, R.; Rocha, L.A. (2010). "Centropyge heraldi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165848A6147706. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165848A6147706.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Centropyge heraldi". FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. ^ a b Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (21 July 2020). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Bray, D.J. (2018). "Centropyge heraldi". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  5. ^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Centropyge". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
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