Centropyge heraldi
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  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Pomacanthidae |
| Genus: | Centropyge |
| Species: | C. heraldi |
| Binomial name | |
| Centropyge heraldi | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Pomacanthus heraldi (Woods & Schultz, 1953) | |
Etymology
The angelfish is named after Earl Stannard Herald. He died in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California, in a scuba diving accident.[3]
Description
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
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
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
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
Centropyge heraldi sometimes appears in the aquarium trade.[1]
References
- 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.
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Centropyge heraldi" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
- 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.
- Bray, D.J. (2018). "Centropyge heraldi". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- 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.
External links
- Photos of Centropyge heraldi on Sealife Collection
