FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
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Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
Pomacanthus imperator (emperor angelfish), also known as imperator angelfish, was found in 1787. It is a type of marine fish found in Indo-Pacific regions, the Red Sea, East South Africa, Southern Japan, and Australia, the Great Barrier Reef.
These are saltwater marine fish commonly found in coral reefs and lagoons. They are often kept in an aquarium as they are very beautiful, and people love to see them.
Here, we have many amazing and interesting facts about emperor angelfish that you will enjoy. Let's take a look at these facts and information, and if you enjoy these then, do read our moon jellyfish and aquatic warbler facts.
As its name suggests, emperor angelfish is a type of fish.
The emperor angelfish belongs to the class Actinopterygii. It is a species of fish.
The emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) has a stable population. They are a species that is of Least Concern. Their exact number is not known at the moment, but all there is to know that they are not in danger.
The emperor angelfish lives in clear lagoons, channels, and coral reefs. Juveniles live in rockwork outside of reefs. They are also kept as pets in a tank in common households.
The emperor angelfish has a wide range. It is found in Indo-Pacific regions, the Red Sea, southern Japan, Australia, and the East African coast in Madagascar. Juveniles hide in rockwork outside the reef and do not go into it, while an adult's habitat includes surge channels, lagoons, and coral reefs.
The emperor angelfish is a semi-aggressive fish. They do not tolerate another male entering their territory, but they can live with a female or sometimes with two females. If you want to get them, you should always keep one male in a separate tank than the other.
Emperor angelfishes have a long lifespan. They live for 15-18 years in captivity, and in the wild, they can live for more than 20 years.
The male and female move in a circular motion, chasing each other in the water columns. After some time, both of them release sperm and egg to perform the spawning. They spawn only once a year. When eggs hatch into larvae, they float in the planktonic stage for few weeks, then they turn into fry (small fish), and then after some time, they slowly and gradually transform into juvenile emperor angelfish.
They do not reproduce in captivity as they require extremely large aquariums, which are not available to everyone.
Emperor angelfish has the conservation status of Least Concern. They have a stable population and are not under any threats or danger. They are found in the wild as well as in aquariums or a normal house tank.
Emperor angelfish has an oval-shaped body that is a bit elongated. It has pectoral and caudal fins and a prominent dorsal, and its jaws are bulky and strong, which help it chew things like sponges. Its body goes through transformations throughout its life.
The juvenile emperor angelfish has a black-colored body along with white and light blue stripes. The dorsal and anal fins have hexagonal markings. When a juvenile turns into sub-adult emperor angelfish, a yellow-colored tail fin starts to develop, and its body also starts to become rounder, and yellow stripes appear on it. When they fully develop into an adult emperor angelfish, a mask-like black-color band is developed across its eyes. Its body is covered with blue and yellow horizontal stripes starting from gill to yellow-colored tail fin. The dorsal fin has a white edging. These changes in coloration and body happen for two years, though it is still unknown whether they feel anything or not while changing. Not much is known about the circulatory system of a juvenile.
It takes the juveniles 24-36 months to fully grow and change colors.
The emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) is a unique and beautiful fish. It is really cute and is loved by a lot of people. They are kept in a tank or aquarium by people.
The communication method of emperor angelfish is a mystery, but it is common to hear a grunting sound coming from them. They tend to make these sounds when feeling threatened.
An emperor angelfish grows about 4.5-12 in (11.4-30.4 cm). They can grow up to 12 in (30.4 cm) in captivity, but they can even grow up to 15 in (38 cm) in the wild.
The emperor angelfish, like all other angelfish, is a slow swimmer. Their swimming speed has not been measured. They require large space for swimming, so they require a large tank or aquarium to be kept in captivity.
The weight of an emperor angelfish has not been measured yet.
Males and females do not have any separate names. Both of them look really similar, but there is one difference between them. Males have a bluish face, while females have a grayish face.
The baby emperor angelfishes do not have a specific name. The emperor angelfish juvenile goes under a lot of transformation since it is in larvae form till it becomes an adult. The body changes shape and color over two years.
The emperor angelfish diet includes food like sponges, marine algae, shrimp. When kept in a tank or aquarium, they hesitate to eat at first. When it comes to emperor angelfish care, to feed them their diet, you should keep food on a live rock so that they can find it themselves and eat it.
After few weeks, they start to eat food, so you should slowly start introducing it in the tank. You can give them a diet of frozen foods or shrimp. For a vegetable diet, you should give spinach. You can also give color enhancers as part of their diet by putting them in their food if their color is duller than an emperor angelfish found in the wild.
Emperor angelfish in the wild eat a variety of sponges such as Xestospongia and Callyspongia. They also consume soft corals.
The emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) is a semi-aggressive marine fish species. They attack or fight with other males for territory. That is why you should not keep two males in the same tank or aquarium. You can keep a female or even two females in the tank of a male.
The care and health of an emperor angelfish are important if you want to keep one as a pet. They are an aggressive species of saltwater fish that are quite beautiful and exotic in looks. The minimum tank size for keeping them is really large. You will need a tank that can hold 125 gal (473 l) of water. If you want to keep a pair, the emperor angelfish tank size should be increased to 180 gal (681 l). Adults need more space. Their tank size should not be smaller than 220 gal (833 l).
An emperor angelfish price ranges from $124.99-$599.99 as it is a unique marine species of fish.
Juveniles have a black or dark blue body, then the phenomenon of the emperor angelfish changing colors occurs.
Their body is covered in C-shaped bands.
The emperor angelfish skull is round like its body.
Emperor angelfish juvenile is usually confused with Koran angelfish by people. These fish live on the outside of the coral reef and are considered cleaner fish. The three bands on the body of juveniles start from the dorsal fin to the anal fin, the second forms the C-shape, and the third is on the caudal fin.
Emperor angelfish is not compatible with every other fish. Some examples of compatible tank mates for emperor angelfish are butterflyfish, pufferfish, clownfish, lionfish.
People think that orange tail emperor angelfish are worth more, but it is not true.
The saltwater emperor angelfish transformation and the phenomenon of the emperor angelfish changing colors occurs after around two years. Are you thinking, 'Emperor angelfish: reef safe or not?' – that's not the case, these saltwater marine fish species are not reef safe, and they eat coral.
Some other angelfish species are dwarf emperor angelfish and queen emperor angelfish.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that if the aquarium is not maintained well, it might catch saltwater ich or white spot disease. Another emperor angelfish disease is marine velvet.
A piece of unsolicited advice for you if you want to buy one – these fish are prone to stress, and if not given a large space, they stress a lot, so you should have a large aquarium if you want to keep one. Also, you should buy juvenile angelfish as they adapt to the captive lifestyle easily, and if it looks brighter than usual or disoriented, the chances are that it might have been treated with cyanide which is unhealthy for them.
Male emperor angelfish are extremely territorial fish species. Their territory in the wild expands up to 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m). They cannot tolerate another male entering their territory and will often show aggression towards other male fish for territory. It is advised to put an emperor angelfish in an already established tank as they tend to bully new or smaller fish.
You can keep a juvenile and an adult in the same tank or aquarium as they do not clash a lot, but as the juvenile goes through coloration, adult emperor angelfish becomes irritated with it.
Juvenile emperor angelfishes have a dark blue or black body with white and blue stripes on its face, and its body is divided into three big stripes that start from the dorsal fin and continue till the caudal fin. In contrast, an adult has yellow and blue-colored stripes on its body and a black-colored mask-like band across its face.
Juveniles stay outside the corals while adults live inside the corals. Adults have yellow-colored tails, while juvenile fish do not develop them until they reach the sub-adult stage. Adults are much more aggressive than a juvenile.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these John Dory facts and Nile perch facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable emperor angelfish coloring pages.
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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