Angelfish Behavior

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URL : http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/PPT/Ecology/angelfish_behavior.htm

Categories : English, Aquarium, ANGELFISH - AN, Assorted Angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare, 001, Breeding Angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare, Assorted Veil Angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare

By Julie Barker

The freshwater tropical

, Pterophyllum scalare, were originally found in the Amazon region of South America. Pterophyllum is a word that is derived from the Greek word meaning "winged leaf." Scalare is translated as, " like a flight of stairs," or ‘latter" in Latin and is a quality that is reflected in the dorsal fin (1). belong to the order or Perciformes and include true , butterfly fish and freshwater (3). As you can see in the many pictures that are throughout this paper, are more disc-like in structure as they are long and splendorous, yet are very narrow. They have two fanned fins on both the top and bottom of their bodies. There are an additional two feelers that lie in front of this bottom fin. Depending on the variety, the tail may differ in shape, yet is always oriented vertically(1).

Figure 1 (2)

There are several varieties of

. The varieties include: Silver, Zebra, Black lace, Black, Half Black, Veil tail, Marble, Golden, marble, Pearly Golden, Blushing, Pearl Scale, Blue blushing and koie. The silver variety is the most common coloring of the wild (1). The silver contains 4 dark vertical bars running along its sides. The first bar runs through the eye, the second is located in front of the top and bottom fin and the third is at the back of these fins and the last will run through the tailfin (1). The body is silver in color and the head can be brownish in color. Stripes may break, be less pronounced than others and some may not even be solid (2).

Figure 2 (1)

The zebra variety is nearly identical to the silver variety yet contains more vertical stripes extending through the tailfin (1). The zebra variety can have a black body with alternating small zebra stripes. There may also be a hint of glittering

at the top of the body (2).

Black Lace is the nearly black variety of

. The black lace has a black body with black fins; the body features dark and light black stripes across the body (2). The Black lace is also like the silver variety, yet contains an intense color (1). This color difference is most noted in the fins where a lace pattern appears. The black lace appears to have a mixture of genes, and is co dominant, as they will produce 25% black, 50% black lace and 25% silver.

Black

are solid velvety black. There are no streaks within its coloring (2).

Half black varieties are half black or dark gray on the rear of the body and silver in the front of the body (2). The segmentation occurs through the upper and lower fins as well as the body (1).

Veil tail

have elongated fins and may come in every color.

Marble

have an array of broken black and silver. The head may have golden coloration and the fins may contain rays of black and white (1,2).

Figure 3 Marble at the left,

at the right (2)

The golden variety may have the coloration anywhere from solid silvery white to a golden color. This variety contains no other markings. The head and back, however usually contain a mantle of

(1). They often have a shiny pale yellow body. The golden is not born with its coloration, yet as the fish ages, the color will appear. At a young age, this variety is often misidentified as a blushing or koie (2).

marble are like the golden variety yet there are black streaks on the body and/or fins (2).

Figure 4 A

marble (2)

Pearly

contain a base color of pearlesque and have a rough, aluminum foil like body. This coloration reflects light revealing a wondrous display of light and color (2).

Blushing

have a red cheek area with no other distinctions on their body (1). The rest of the body remains colorless, or white, yet some demonstrate a appearance on the head (2). This variety is reported to be the most delicate (1). At a young age this variety displays a red coloration under the eyes. This coloration is due to the transparency of the flesh as the coloration is actually the appearance of their red gills. As the fish enlarges, the red coloration is less apparent (2).

Pearl Scale

have bumpy, rougher scales and may come in several colors (1).

Blue blushing

are gray that usually contain a black trim. You can see red under the eyes, as in the blushing variety, and is less pronounced as the matures. When the fish’s mood changes, the body and fins display a very light color.

Koie

are white with black patches. It can contain golden on the head area. In addition, it may display the red coloration of the blushing variety that will fade with growth.

Observed Behavior

are not a type of fish that merely sit in the tank and look glamorous. Besides their mere beauty, they contain an interesting set of behaviors that are unique to the genus. The following behavior observations were made within two separate tanks. Tank A contains a large marble and a smaller, but mature, blushing . Other organisms within this ninety-gallon tank include: three gorami, three iridescent sharks, snails, a variety of bacteria, and an algae eater. Tank B is a twenty-five gallon tank and includes a silver and a golden , both of the same approximate size and proportions. Tank B also includes two blueberry tetras, two stripers and an algae eater.

Perhaps the most notable behavior that is evident when observing

is that they tend to stay parallel to each other’s bodies. When one fish turns, then the other fish will realign itself to the same parallel direction. Both of the heads are faced the same way, or a tail is faced the same way on one fish as the head of the other fish. In tank A, where one is larger than the other, it is noticeable that the smaller fish will align its body to the direction of the larger fish.

This behavior may be a defensive gesture. Since

have eyes on the sides of their heads, it could be that they may only see predators approaching from the sides. If their slender bodies are faced the same direction, a predator may view the as being much smaller in size than it actually is. Furthermore, in a school of , the predator may not attach the school if seen from the frontal view if the school appears to be small fish with little meat for a food source. If however the predator approaches from the sides of the , then the would immediately begin to swim away from the predator. In this case, the predator will only see the tail of the and may regard the as a smaller prey than on first glance. Therefore, the shape of the may dictate the behavior of the genus. The genus may naturally contain these behaviors in order to avoid capture by predators.

Another quality that the

contain is curiosity. This, however, seems to be an interest with regard to food. Whenever a human, especially the caretaker of the tank passes Tank A, the marble always peeks out at the human, as if to beg for attention. The is peculiar when a finger is placed outside of the glass of the tank. When a finger is touching the outside of the tank, the blushing will first approach the object. When the finger is moved in different directions, the mouth of the fish will move along with the object. If the marble approaches, the smaller blushing will move to a distance of a few inches from the marble . The marble then continues the behavior of the blushing . The blushing always lies within the marble ’s immediate vicinity, and remains at a parallel configuration with the marble . When food is introduced to the tank, the are the first genus to know that food is coming to them and be waiting as soon as the lid is raised. Once feeding has taken place, the no longer exhibit a response to an object outside of the tank. However, when a few hours have passed, the response is once yet noted.

have a great capacity to multiply and grow rapidly. The smaller blushing has been in this tank for some time and grew extremely rapidly. It was stated earlier that blushing are known to be the most delicate. This has shown the opposite of trends. The blushing in Tank A is highly aggressive towards the food source. When large pellets of food are introduced to the tank, the blushing attempts to eat them even though its mouth is too small to grab the pellets. The larger marble does not attempt to eat this food source. Instead, it will eat the flakes that are given at feeding time. However, the blushing will eat much more quickly than the marble fully grown . Perhaps the reason why this blushing eats so much is due to the fact that it is still growing. In Tank B, both the golden and the sliver are of the same size as the blushing in Tank A. These in Tank B demonstrate the same feeding behavior as the blushing .

A most curious behavior arises spontaneously within the

that is thought to display dominance. This behavior has been observed in both tanks, but will be identified through the fish in Tank B. The behavior begins when the two lock lips, almost looking like they were being very intimate. However, as the behavior continues, it is notable that this is not an affectionate locking of the jaws, but is one of aggression. Once they lock jaws, they push as hard as they can towards each other. They typically take intermediate breaths and rest. A watcher can tell that each is out of oxygen and must restore the gas to their bodies in order to continue the behavior. After locking jaws many times and returning to get oxygen, the silver retracts its feelers and then bounces them down in display of dominance. The silver then begins to peck around the bottom of the gills, underneath the mouth on the golden . This reoccurs several times. The golden begins to raise its mouth anticipating the pecks from underneath. The silver then swims two circles around the golden . Pecking then continues on the golden . Both fish return to the surface for air before the silver then circles the golden twice more. Pecks then are repositioned to the golden ’s head. The golden anticipates this peck and "bows down" to the silver before the peck is given. This is done as if to accept the peck on the head. The silver then pecks on the side behind the eye. The golden retracts and swims away. The silver then follows in parallel. As they continue in opposite directions, the silver then sneaks upon the golden and begins to peck it on the tailfin. The silver continues to peck at the golden’s rear and side rear. The always retracts and does not attack with the mouth at any time, and the pecks are allowed.

This display seems to teach dominance when there are two fish competing for any type of space or feeding order. Even though in a tank there is no feeding order and all can eat at the same time, the behavior seems to occur from the natural state of the

. Space is a major factor in a tank environment, however. If the fish fight for dominance, one fish may be able to claim a specific territory within the tank at any given time. When even the dominant sees a reflection of itself in a mirror, it will back off from its location. This may be due to the fact that size is the major dominance in populations.

Through my studies of the behavior and research, I configured the environment that

will breed within. As of the end of this report period, my have laid and fertilized eggs. The female retracts her feelers and lays the eggs on a leaf. The male then follows in the same manner to fertilize the eggs. The eggs should hatch in a couple of weeks. This project has turned out to be fascinating as well as entertaining. Hopefully, I have found a new hobby: raising and breeding .

References

Hawley, Cindy. http://www.actwin.com/fish/species/ angelfish .html.
Encarta. http://www.feist.com/~bpuphaus/ angelfish /part2.html#2.2.a. 1997.
Salamida, Byron. http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=01195000 1997.
http://members.aol.com/angelbook/angelg.htm. 1969.
http://www.oodlesofangels.com/strains/marble.htm. 1999.
Rybicki, Steve. http://server3.triplet.net/monacos/index.html. 1999.
Moulton, Debra. http://www.angelsplus.com/catalog/angels.htm.
Collins, Sean. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Flats/2614/angels.htm.
http://members.aol.com/Skeelty/angelpics.html.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/1313/chocpic.html 1997.

Angelfish Behavior

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