# Pomacanthus

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pomacanthus
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Pomacanthus.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomacanthus
> Source revision: 1349057098
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [Late Cretaceous](/source/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](/source/Gray_angelfish) (''Pomacanthus arcuatus'')
| taxon = Pomacanthus
| authority = [Lacépède](/source/Bernard_Germain_%C3%89tienne_de_la_Ville%2C_Comte_de_Lac%C3%A9p%C3%A8de), 1802
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
| type_species = ''Chaetodon arcuatus''
| type_species_authority = ([Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae))<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](/source/J.L.B._Smith), 1955</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF/>
}}

'''''Pomacanthus''''' from [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) ''poma'', meaning "cover", and ''ákantha'', meaning "spine", is a genus of [marine angelfish](/source/marine_angelfish) that is usually found around [reefs](/source/reefs) and [coral](/source/coral). Some of the notable places one can see these vari-coloured fish includes the [Maldives](/source/Maldives), [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka), and [Sipidan](/source/Sipidan) off the southern coast of [Sabah](/source/Sabah), [Malaysia](/source/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](/source/French_people) [naturalist](/source/naturalist) Bernard Germain de Lacépède (1756-1825) with the [type species](/source/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](/source/Operculum_(fish)), 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](/source/Alec_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](/source/Pomacanthus_annularis)''
<small>([Bloch](/source/Marcus_Elieser_Bloch), 1787)</small>
|[Bluering angelfish](/source/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](/source/Pomacanthus_arcuatus)''
<small>([Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), [1758](/source/10th_edition_of_Systema_Naturae))</small>
| [Gray angelfish](/source/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](/source/Pomacanthus_asfur)''
''[asfur](/source/Pomacanthus_asfur)''
<small>([Forsskål](/source/Peter_Forssk%C3%A5l), 1775)</small>
| [Arabian angelfish](/source/Arabian_angelfish) ||Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to Zanzibar. Also found in the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea.
|-
|200x200px 
| ||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_chrysurus)''
''[chrysurus](/source/Pomacanthus_chrysurus)''
<small>([Cuvier](/source/Georges_Cuvier), 1831)</small>
| [Goldtail angelfish](/source/Goldtail_angelfish) ||Western Indian Ocean (South Africa including Comoros, Seychelles and Madagascar)
|-
|200x200px
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_imperator)''
''[imperator](/source/Pomacanthus_imperator)''
<small>([Bloch](/source/Marcus_Elieser_Bloch), 1787)</small>
| [Emperor angelfish](/source/Emperor_angelfish) ||Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea to Hawaii, the Austral Islands and Mediterranean
|-
|200x200px 
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_maculosus)''
''[maculosus](/source/Pomacanthus_maculosus)''
<small>([Forsskål](/source/Peter_Forssk%C3%A5l), 1775)</small>
| [Yellowbar angelfish](/source/Yellowbar_angelfish) || Persian Gulf, northwestern Indian Ocean,  the Red Sea and Mediterranean
|-
|200x200px
| ||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_navarchus)''
''[navarchus](/source/Pomacanthus_navarchus)''
<small>([Cuvier](/source/Georges_Cuvier), 1831)</small>
| [Blue-girdled angelfish](/source/Pomacanthus_navarchus) ||Indo-Pacific region
|-
|200x200px 
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_paru)''
''[paru](/source/Pomacanthus_paru)''
<small>([Bloch](/source/Marcus_Elieser_Bloch), 1787)</small>
| [French angelfish](/source/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](/source/Pomacanthus_rhomboides)''
''[rhomboides](/source/Pomacanthus_rhomboides)''
<small>([Gilchrist](/source/John_Gilchrist_(zoologist)) & [Thompson](/source/William_Wardlaw_Thompson), 1908)</small>
| [Old woman angelfish](/source/Old_woman_angelfish) ||Western Indian Ocean
|-
|200x200px 
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_semicirculatus)''
''[semicirculatus](/source/Pomacanthus_semicirculatus)''
<small>([Cuvier](/source/Georges_Cuvier), 1831)</small>
| [Semicircle angelfish](/source/Semicircle_angelfish) ||East coast of Africa to Fiji and Japan, the east coast of Australia and New Caledonia.
|-
|200x200px
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_sexstriatus)''
''[sexstriatus](/source/Pomacanthus_sexstriatus)''
<small>([Cuvier](/source/Georges_Cuvier), 1831)</small>
| [Sixbar angelfish](/source/Sixbar_angelfish) || South Pacific reefs, most commonly the Great Barrier Reef of Australia's north-east coast
|-
|200x200px
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_xanthometopon)''
''[xanthometopon](/source/Pomacanthus_xanthometopon)''
<small>([Bleeker](/source/Pieter_Bleeker), 1853)</small>
| [Yellowface angelfish](/source/Yellowface_angelfish), [Blueface angelfish](/source/Blueface_angelfish) ||Maldive Islands, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, northern Australia and Micronesia
|-
|200x200px
|frameless|150x150px||''[Pomacanthus](/source/Pomacanthus_zonipectus)''
''[zonipectus](/source/Pomacanthus_zonipectus)''
<small>([Gill](/source/Theodore_Gill), 1862)</small>
| [Cortez angelfish](/source/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

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Pomacanthus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomacanthus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomacanthus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.