The
royal angelfish (
Pygoplites diacanthus) is a fish in the marine angelfish family,
Pomacanthidae. It is found in tropical seas, including the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean around East Africa and the Maldives, the
Tuamotus,
New Caledonia, and the
Great Barrier Reef. It is also found around
Taiwan and islands off the coast of Japan. The royal angelfish has a maximum length of 25.0 centimetres (9.8 inches), with coloration varying by region. A commonality is that the body is edged in narrow blue-white and orange stripes that are narrow and angle backward. It is a carnivorous species, feeding on
sponges and
tunicates, and resides in coral-rich areas of lagoons and reefs as well as in the vicinity of caves. This royal angelfish was photographed in
Ras Muhammad National Park on the
Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
Photograph credit: Diego Delso