{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Cretaceous to Present<ref>{{cite journal | last = Sepkoski | first = Jack | authorlink = | title = A compendium of fossil marine animal genera | journal = Bulletins of American Paleontology | volume = 364 | issue = |page=560 | year = 2002 | url = http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class | doi = | id = | accessdate = 2008-01-08 }}</ref> | image = Grey Angelfish, Nassau, The Bahamas imported from iNaturalist photo 331400555 (cropped).jpg | image_caption = Gray angelfish (''Pomacanthus arcuatus'') | taxon = Pomacanthus | authority = Lacépède, 1802 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | type_species = ''Chaetodon arcuatus'' | type_species_authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)<ref name = CofF>{{Cof family | family = Pomacanthidae | access-date = 26 February 2021}}</ref> | synonyms = * ''Acanthochaetodon'' <small>Bleeker, 1876</small> * ''Arusetta'' <small>Fraser-Brunner, 1933</small> * ''Euxiphipops'' <small>Fraser-Brunner, 1934</small> * ''Heteropyge'' <small>Fraser-Brunner, 1933</small> * ''Pomacanthops'' <small>J.L.B. Smith, 1955</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF/> }}
'''''Pomacanthus''''' from Ancient Greek ''poma'', meaning "cover", and ''ákantha'', meaning "spine", is a genus of marine angelfish that is usually found around reefs and coral. Some of the notable places one can see these vari-coloured fish includes the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Sipidan off the southern coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Generally the patterns and colors of these fish undergo a major transformation from juvenile to adult forms. The juveniles may even appear to be a different species.
==Taxonomy== The genus ''Pomacanthus'' was created in 1802 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède (1756-1825) with the type species being designated as ''Chaetodon arcuatus''.<ref name="CofF" />
The name is a compound of ''poma'' meaning"lid" and ''acanthus'' which means "thorn", a reference to the prominents spine on the rear margin of the operculum, a feature shared by all the marine angelfishes.<ref name="ETYFish">{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/acanthuriformes1/ | title =Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | accessdate = 26 February 2021 | date = 21 July 2020 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | name-list-style = amp | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}</ref>
=== Subgenera === Some authorities divide the genus up into the following subgenera:<ref name="ETYFish" />
* ''Pomacanthus'' <small>Lacépède, 1802</small> ** ''Pomacanthus (Pomacanthus) arcuatus'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Pomacanthus) paru'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Pomacanthus) zonipectus'' * ''Acanthochaetodon'' <small>Bleeker, 1876</small> ** ''Pomacanthus (Acanthochaetodon) annularis'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Acanthochaetodon) chrysurus'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Acanthochaetodon) imperator'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Acanthochaetodon) rhomboides'' * ''Arusetta'' <small>Fraser-Brunner, 1933</small> ** ''Pomacanthus (Arusetta) asfur'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Arusetta) maculosus'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Arusetta) semicirculatus'' * ''Euxiphipops'' <small>Fraser-Brunner 1934</small> ** ''Pomacanthus (Euxiphipops) navarchus'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Euxiphipops) sexstriatus'' ** ''Pomacanthus (Euxiphipops) xanthometopon''
==Species== The following 13 species are classified within the genus ''Pomacanthus'':<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus | genus = Pomacanthus | month = December | year =2019}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" |- ! Adult !Juvenile!! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution |- |200x200px|frameless | ||''Pomacanthus annularis'' <small>(Bloch, 1787)</small> |Bluering angelfish || Indo-West Pacific oceans from East Africa, throughout Indonesia and New Guinea to New Caledonia, north to southern Japan. |- |200x200px|frameless |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus arcuatus'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> | Gray angelfish || Western Atlantic from New England to the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and also the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean, including the Antilles |- |200x200px|frameless | ||''Pomacanthus'' ''asfur'' <small>(Forsskål, 1775)</small> | Arabian angelfish ||Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to Zanzibar. Also found in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea. |- |200x200px | ||''Pomacanthus'' ''chrysurus'' <small>(Cuvier, 1831)</small> | Goldtail angelfish ||Western Indian Ocean (South Africa including Comoros, Seychelles and Madagascar) |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''imperator'' <small>(Bloch, 1787)</small> | Emperor angelfish ||Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea to Hawaii, the Austral Islands and Mediterranean |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''maculosus'' <small>(Forsskål, 1775)</small> | Yellowbar angelfish || Persian Gulf, northwestern Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and Mediterranean |- |200x200px | ||''Pomacanthus'' ''navarchus'' <small>(Cuvier, 1831)</small> | Blue-girdled angelfish ||Indo-Pacific region |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''paru'' <small>(Bloch, 1787)</small> | French angelfish ||Western Atlantic from New York and the Bahamas to Brazil, and also the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, including the Antilles, Roatan, and the eastern Atlantic from around Ascension Island and St. Paul's Rocks |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''rhomboides'' <small>(Gilchrist & Thompson, 1908)</small> | Old woman angelfish ||Western Indian Ocean |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''semicirculatus'' <small>(Cuvier, 1831)</small> | Semicircle angelfish ||East coast of Africa to Fiji and Japan, the east coast of Australia and New Caledonia. |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''sexstriatus'' <small>(Cuvier, 1831)</small> | Sixbar angelfish || South Pacific reefs, most commonly the Great Barrier Reef of Australia's north-east coast |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''xanthometopon'' <small>(Bleeker, 1853)</small> | Yellowface angelfish, Blueface angelfish ||Maldive Islands, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, northern Australia and Micronesia |- |200x200px |frameless|150x150px||''Pomacanthus'' ''zonipectus'' <small>(Gill, 1862)</small> | Cortez angelfish || Eastern Pacific |}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q762409}}
Category:Pomacanthus Category:Pomacanthidae Category:Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances Category:Marine fish genera Category:Taxa named by Bernard Germain de Lacépède