French Angelfish

Pomacanthus paru

Also known as French Angel

SaltwaterFish

French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru) — LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA · CC BY 2.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 8.1–8.4
Adult size: 16.1 in (41 cm)
Minimum tank: 201 gal (760 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Common
Reef safe: Not reef safe
Origin: Western Atlantic, from Florida and the Bahamas south to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
Family: Pomacanthidae

Overview

French angelfish are semi-aggressive and tend to dominate a tank as they grow, especially toward their own kind, so keep only one unless you are housing an established pair. They need a large, mature aquarium with steady algae and sponge growth plus a varied diet of marine algae, angelfish preparations, and meaty foods. They are not reef safe, since they will pick at soft and stony corals and clam mantles once they settle in.

In the wild

French angelfish live on western Atlantic and Caribbean reefs from about 3 to 100 meters, most often as a bonded adult pair patrolling a shared stretch of reef. Like queen angelfish, juveniles work as cleaners, picking parasites off other fish before they grow out of the habit. A tank needs to be large and mature, with plenty of live rock and some sponge growth, to give an adult pair the space and grazing they would find on a real reef.

Good to know

Pomacanthus paru reaches about 41 cm and can live 20 years or more in good care. Juveniles are jet black with a few bright yellow vertical bars and yellow-rimmed fins, while adults lose the bars entirely and develop dark grey-black scales each outlined in yellow, giving the body a scaled, chainmail-like look. Adults are thought to pair for life and defend their territory together.

Did you know

Adult pairs are thought to stay together for life, sharing and defending the same stretch of reef for years, a rare thing among large angelfish, which are otherwise mostly solitary and territorial toward their own species.