Lemon angelfish
| Lemon angelfish | ||||||||||||
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Lemon angelfish ( Centropyge flavissima ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Centropyge flavissima | ||||||||||||
| Cuvier , 1831 |
The lemon angelfish ( Centropyge flavissima ) lives in the coral reefs of the tropical Pacific at depths of 1 to 25 meters. It feeds mainly on algae herbivore .
features
Lemon pygmy angelfish grow to be 14 centimeters long. They are bright yellow in color, the edges of the unpaired fins, the lower lip, a ring around the eyes and the rear edge of the gill cover are blue. This blue color makes it easy to distinguish it from the Centropyge heraldi , which is also yellow . The lemon angelfish is imitated by young chocolate surgeonfish ( Acanthurus pyroferus ).
Fin formula : dorsal XIIII / 15-16, anal III / 16
Reproduction
The reproduction of the lemon angelfish is well documented by successful breeding in the aquarium. Like all pygmy angelfish, they live in harem groups. The males spawn every evening, during twilight, with each adult female in the harem group. Lemon angelfish are free-spawners , the females release 200 to 600 eggs per spawning act. The eggs have a diameter of 0.75 mm and are surrounded by a layer of oil so that they float in the water. The fish larvae hatch in the afternoon of the following day. When hatched, they are very poorly developed, they lack functional fins, digestive system, eyes and mouth. On the third day after hatching, the larvae, which are relatively large for dwarf angelfish, begin to eat. As the blood vessels develop, they will turn reddish for the next two weeks. After three weeks, the body flattens out on the sides and the back begins to turn yellow. On the 45th day, with a length of over twenty millimeters, the metamorphosis begins, a black spot develops on the flanks. In the next two weeks, the body will be more yellow, the edge of the black spot, the edges of the eyes and fins will turn blue. After 70 days the color change is almost complete, the black spot disappears after 100 days. In the wild, the lemon angelfish crosses with Centropyge eibli and Centropyge vrolikii .
literature
- Roger C. Steene: Butterfly and Angelfish, Volume 1 . Reprint, Mergus Verlag, Melle 1997, ISBN 3-88244-001-5
- Frank Schneidewind: Angelfish . 1999, Tetra Verlag, ISBN 3-89745-137-9
- Hans A. Baensch / Robert A. Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 6 . Mergus Verlag, Melle 1999, ISBN 3-88244-116-X
Web links
- Lemon Angelfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Centropyge flavissima inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Pyle, R., Myers, R. & Rocha, LA, 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2014.