Coral Reef Fish: Gray Angelfish

Video Transcript

"The marine organism we're going to identify now is the gray angelfish. Gray angelfish are fairly common inhabits of the coral reefs in the Atlantic, around the Bahamas and in most of the Caribbean. Their bodies are gray in color but their scales often have a darker center, giving them sort of a speckled look, their mouths are light gray, while the most distinguishing characteristic of the gray angelfish, is the yellow inner surface of their pectoral fins. Their tail will often have a pale to bluish transparent boarder. Their bodies are disk shaped and often about the size of a dinner plate. They most commonly are ten to eighteen inches long with a maximum size of about two feet. They're often seen as solitary animals that can occasionally be found in pairs, as they range across the reefs. Their depth range is ten to eighty feet. Gray angelfish feed primarily on sponges but they will also be seen munching on tunicates, algae, gorgonians, hydroids, bryozoans, and occasionally coral polyps. Gray angelfish are monogamous and there females lay eggs that are then fertilized by the males. Differentiating males from females in the wild, however, is nearly impossible. Juveniles look completely different than the adults. They are black with three yellow stripes and a squared off tail that can be easily confused with a juvenile French angelfish, which have similar coloration but have a rounded tail. Gray angelfish are, generally, not afraid of divers and can often be closely approached. In fact, they will frequently swim by divers without giving them any regard but if you approach them aggressively, they will swim away quickly. That's the gray angelfish."