Skip to content

Pygoplites diacanthus

Regal angelfish

The regal angelfish, known in Italian as pesce angelo reale 11, is the only species in its genus in the angelfish family (Pomacanthidae). 1 4 It has a yellowish-orange body with bluish-white bands edged with dark and a yellow tail. 6 It lives on coral-rich reefs from the Red Sea to the central Pacific and feeds mainly on sponges and sea squirts. 2 4

PomacanthidaeIUCN: Least concern
Pygoplites diacanthus

At a glance

Data from the scientific sources listed at the bottom.

Depth in the wild

3–30 m

0 m6 m12 m18 m24 m30 m

Size

up to 25 cm

0612182430

maximum length

Temperature in the wild

23.1–31.4 °C

18 °C34 °C

Where it lives

Red SeaWestern Indian OceanEastern Indian OceanCentral Indo-PacificWestern PacificCentral PacificEastern PacificWestern AtlanticEastern AtlanticMediterranean

From the Red Sea and East Africa to the Tuamotu Archipelago; to the north it reaches the Ryukyu and Ogasawara Islands, to the south the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia. 2 4 In Australia it is also recorded as far as Sydney and at Christmas Island. 6 In a survey on reefs in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden it appeared in all the counts at the Saudi latitude of 20° North, but in none at 15° North (Yemen). 9

Conservation

NEDDLCNTVUENCREWEX

IUCN Red List: least concern (2009). Red List data taken from FishBase. 2 FishBase states that the species is not assessed by CITES, and a search on Species+ gives no results. 2 10 FAO reports it as often exported for aquariums. 4

How to recognise it

Tap a number on the photo: the key explains what to look for.

123
  1. 1Dark-edged bands bluish white on a yellowish-orange background; here the lights make them look bluer 6
  2. 2Dark patch over the eye present in adults, absent in juveniles 6
  3. 3Yellow tail clearly distinct from the banded body 6

Life in the wild

Where it is found

Coral-rich areas, both in lagoons and on the side of the reef facing the open sea, often near caves. 2 6 FAO gives it between 3 and 30 m; Fishes of Australia and Reef Life Survey go down to 80 m and FishBase quotes a limit of 110 m. 2 4 5 6 The temperature given is that of the sea at the spots where Reef Life Survey observed it. 5

What it eats

It feeds on sponges and sea squirts. 2 4 6 A study on angelfish describes it as an omnivore that eats invertebrates attached to the bottom; like the other non-pygmy angelfish it grabs them and tears them off forcefully, a method suited to detaching tough prey. 8

Behaviour

It lives alone, in pairs or in small groups. 2 4 Juveniles stay hidden in crevices and recesses. 6

Reproduction

FishBase lists it as having separate sexes and external fertilisation: the eggs are scattered and receive no parental care. 3 It also reports the formation of groups for spawning. 3 Juveniles have fewer bands on the flanks, a large eye-like spot on the rear part of the dorsal fin, and lack the dark patch over the eye. 6

In the aquarium

From the experience of the BallingMania community.

Community rating
Level in the tank
lowmediumhigh
Coral compatibility
lowmediumhigh
Aggression
lowmediumhigh
Care difficulty
lowmediumhigh
Original sheet

A fish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae, an animal coming from the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Cocos Islands, Sumatra, Java, the Great Barrier Reef, Bali, Sulawesi, New Guinea, the Philippines, the southern Japanese islands, Taiwan, New Caledonia, the Vanuatu Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii and French Polynesia. In the wild it lives in the shallow waters of lagoon areas or close to the reef cliff. The livery of the adult is extremely colourful and striking: the flanks are a beautiful yellow, crossed by white bands with turquoise shading and black-edged margins, and the bands increase in number with the age of the fish; the head is the same colour as the flank or slightly darker, while the eye is surrounded by thin vertical turquoise lines that highlight the gill cover and its spine; the front part of the dorsal fin has the same pattern as the flank, while the rear part is blue, dotted with countless turquoise spots; on the anal fin there is a pattern made of orange arcs on a blue background; the caudal and pelvic fins are yellow, and finally the pectoral fins are semi-transparent with orange highlights. A very delicate fish, sensitive to diet and to water conditions; in fact it is advisable only for a very experienced aquarist.

In the wild it feeds on sponges, encrusting algae, anthozoans, fish eggs and larvae, small crustaceans and echinoderms, which it tears off with its strong beak. In the aquarium it is very difficult to settle in, so it is always advisable to buy an already acclimatised specimen. To get through this delicate period, it is advisable to offer the fish a fresh bivalve, such as a clam or a mussel, with its shell open. Once acclimatised it is omnivorous and needs a very rich and varied diet, such as frozen food, brine shrimp, chironomus and mysis, mussel flesh and shrimp; it must never go without sheets of Nori seaweed, lettuce leaves, boiled spinach, and bananas and courgettes cut into rounds. Once well settled in, it will accept freeze-dried food or dry food. It should be kept in tanks larger than 300 litres, with adequate room for swimming and crevices among the rocks to take refuge in. Like all Pomacanthidae it is not suitable for reef aquariums with invertebrates, because, as mentioned above, it readily feeds on sponges, algae, crustaceans and anthozoans.

Species sheet by Massimo Ramognino and photo by Luca Bergianti

Did you know?

A genetic study of 547 fish from 15 localities found distinct evolutionary lineages in the Pacific, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The authors propose two subspecies: P. d. diacanthus in the Pacific and P. d. flavescens across the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. 7 At Christmas Island Indian and Pacific lineages live side by side. 7
The Red Sea lineage survived the Pleistocene ice ages: according to the authors that sea was a long-lasting refuge, from which the Indian Ocean may have been repopulated. 7
Reef Life Survey reports an occasional yellow form, without the blue. 5
FishBase warns that it rarely survives in the aquarium, while Fishes of Australia describes it as difficult to keep even though it is widely traded. 2 6
FishBase gives a maximum age of 15 years. 2

Sources

  1. Froese R., Pauly D. (eds.), via WoRMS (2026). Pygoplites diacanthus (Boddaert, 1772). World Register of Marine Species.
  2. Froese R., Pauly D. (eds.) (2026). Pygoplites diacanthus, Regal angelfish. FishBase.
  3. Froese R., Pauly D. (eds.) (2026). Reproduction of Pygoplites diacanthus. FishBase.
  4. Pyle R., in Carpenter K.E., Niem V.H. (eds.) (2001). Pomacanthidae. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific, vol. 5. FAO.
  5. Reef Life Survey (2026). Pygoplites diacanthus. Reef Life Survey.
  6. Bray D.J. (2026). Regal Angelfish, Pygoplites diacanthus (Boddaert 1772). Fishes of Australia, Museums Victoria.
  7. Coleman R.R., Eble J.A., DiBattista J.D., Rocha L.A., Randall J.E., Berumen M.L., Bowen B.W. (2016). Regal phylogeography: Range-wide survey of the marine angelfish Pygoplites diacanthus reveals evolutionary partitions between the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, NOAA record.
  8. Konow N., Bellwood D.R. (2011). Evolution of High Trophic Diversity Based on Limited Functional Disparity in the Feeding Apparatus of Marine Angelfishes (f. Pomacanthidae). PLoS ONE.
  9. Khalaf M.A., Abdallah M. (2014). Spatial distribution of fifty ornamental fish species on coral reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. ZooKeys.
  10. UNEP-WCMC (2026). Search for Pygoplites diacanthus in the CITES lists. Species+.
  11. GBIF Secretariat (2026). Pygoplites diacanthus, nomi comuni. GBIF.

Sources checked on 5 November 2026. Community texts and ratings are kept separate from the scientific data.

View the original sheet (Italian)All species