Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loricula). Photo by Ken Marks.

Meet our November Fish of the Month, the Flame Angelfish, Centropyge loricula, a living ember of the Pacific reef. With shorter days settling in, this little fish brings a welcome burst of color: a brilliant red-orange body banded in black and tipped with electric blue.

Survey Regions: Flame Angelfish are found across the South Pacific (SOP), Central Indo-Pacific (CIP), and Hawaii (HAW) survey regions, from Micronesia and the Marshall Islands through the islands of Oceania. They turn up fairly regularly in Hawaii, recorded on roughly 21% of REEF surveys around the Big Island. Everywhere they roam, they favor clear, coral-rich reefs and rubble slopes, where REEF surveyors count them as a prized find.

Size: Small. Usually 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 cm), with the deep, oval body typical of the dwarf angelfishes.

Identifying Features: The Flame Angelfish is hard to mistake. Its fiery red to red-orange body is crossed by four to five vertical black bars, and the rear edges of the dorsal and anal fins are banded in alternating bright blue and black. That combination of deep color and compact shape sets it apart from its many angelfish relatives.

Fun Facts: The Flame Angelfish belongs to Centropyge, the dwarf or pygmy angelfishes, and rarely grows larger than your hand. Like many reef fish, it lives in small harems of one dominant male and several females, and it is a protogynous hermaphrodite, meaning a female can transform into a male if the resident male disappears. Its species name, loricula, means “little corset,” a nod to the dark bars wrapped across its flanks. The Flame Angelfish is also one of the most recognizable fish in the marine aquarium hobby, and advances in captive breeding now mean many are raised rather than taken from the reef. Shy and quick, it darts among branching corals, so spotting one on a survey rewards a patient eye.

See one for yourself. The coral-rich reefs of the Indo-Pacific are the place to look. Explore REEF’s upcoming Field Survey Trips at www.REEF.org/trips.