Kwajalein Angelfish

This page covers the family Pomacanthidae, or angelfish, from Kwajalein, Marshall Islands. The photos include all the species we have seen at Kwajalein. Two additional species that have been reported from the Marshall Islands include Apolemichthys xanthopunctatus reported by Randall et al, 2005, and Centropyge flavicauda, now considered a synonym of C. fisheri and known from a sight record reported in Myers (1999). Allen et al, 1998, provide known distribution maps of angels, and three additional species have distributions that could include (or come very close to) the Marshalls: Apolemichthys trimaculatus, Centropyge nigriocella, and Pomacanthus semicirculatus. We have not yet seen these in our travels within the Marshalls, but they are certainly worth watching out for. Finally, we have seen Pomacanthus xanthometapon commonly at Pohnpei, not all that far from the Marshalls in the eastern Caroline Islands, and Randall (2005) notes that Centropyge aurantius occurs in Pohnpei as well. It is possible one or both of these will turn up in the Marshalls if we look long enough.

Apolemichthys griffisi
Centropyge bicolor
Centropyge bispinosa
Centropyge colini
Centropyge flavissima
Centropyge heraldi
Centropyge loricula
Centropyge multicolor
Centropyge multifasciata
Centropyge vrolikii
Centropyge flavissima X vrolikii hybrid
Genicanthus bellus
Genicanthus watanabei
Pomacanthus imperator
Pygoplites diacanthus

References:

Allen, Gerald R., Roger Steene, & Mark Allen. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research. 250pp.

Myers, Robert F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes, third edition. Coral Graphics, Guam. 330pp.

Randall, John E. 2005. Reef and Shore Fishes of the South Pacific. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, HI, USA. 707pp.

Randall, John E., Robert F. Myers, Michael N. Trevor, Scott R. Johnson, Jeanette L. Johnson, Satoshi Yoshii, & Brian D. Greene. 2005. Ninety-one new records of fishes from the Marshall Islands. Aqua 9(3):115-132.

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