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Species: Pomacanthus paru, French Angelfish

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

dark grey + yellow spots
yellow ring around eye
juv: C black, ringed with yellow
juv: inverted yellow Y on snout
pectoral - outer base yellow

Pomacanthus paru (Bloch, 1787)

French Angelfish

Deep, almost circular, compressed body; head deep, snout short; mouth small, with brush-like teeth; preopercle with a large spine at its angle, with vertical margin smooth; bone between preopercle and operculum without spines; bone under eye without large, rear-pointing spines; dorsal fin un-notched, X, 29-31; anal rays III, 22-24; front soft rays of dorsal and anal fin with filaments; tail fin bluntly rounded in adult; body with large and small scales, irregularly arranged, very rough, with distinct ridges on the exposed part; >70 lateral scales; scales extend out onto the median fins; without "axillary process" (an enlarged scale) at the base of the pelvic fins; lateral line complete.

Adult: dark grey, with bright yellow rims to scales; fins black, base of pectoral yellow. Juvenile: black, with 3 yellow bars; tail black, entirely edged with yellow; center of forehead with a yellow line forms an inverted Y branching down sides of mouth.

Size: to 40 cm.

Habitat: reefs; juveniles common in seagrass beds.

Depth: 1-157 m.

New York to Brazil.


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
Habitat
  • Rocks
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Submerged vegetation
  • Corals
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Corallivore
  • Data
  • Ectoparasite cleaner
  • Omnivore
Diet
  • Data
  • Soft corals/hydroids
  • Sponges/seasquirts/bryozoa
  • Benthic macroalgae/seagrasses
  • Benthic microalgae
  • Ectoparasites
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
Egg Type
  • Data
  • Pelagic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean non-endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Also in Brazil
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Extends N + S of GC
  • Extends North of GC
  • Extends South of GC
  • GC non-endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Temperate (>35N)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 40
Depth Range Min
  • 1
Depth Range Max
  • 157