Angelfish Habitat: Where do Angelfish Live

The scientific name for Angelfish is, Pterophyllum scalare. Pterophyllum is a Greek word, which means 'winged leaf' and scalare means 'like a flight of stairs'. This is an angelfish fact that is with reference to its dorsal fin. Angelfish has two other species namely Pt. altum and Pt. dumerili.

Physical Features of Angelfish
These lovable aquarium fish are extremely flat bodied and have high dorsal and anal fins. Angelfish have small head that ends with a terminally placed pointed mouth. The body size of an angelfish can reach up to 3 inches in breadth and the long fins add about 6 inches or so to their height. They have long and flowing pelvic fins and large, fan-shaped caudal fin. The Pt. altum have high dorsal fins. They also have a distinct dip in the snout. The Pt. dumerili, have a black spot near the base of the dorsal fin. The body of an angelfish is diamond-shaped and they have dark red eyes. They can be distinguished from Butterflyfish, because of the presence of a spine on each side of the angelfish's body. They survive in waters having a pH level between 6.0 to 9.0. High ammonia levels in the water can prove to be lethal for the angelfish.

Taxonomy of Angelfish
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Sub-phylum: Vertebrates
Group: Fish
Class: Osteichthyes
Sub-class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cichlidae
Subfamily: Cichlasomatinae
Genus: Pterophyllum
Species: scalare

Types of Angelfish
Many varieties of selectively bred angelfish are available, which have variations in the nine basic colors. The different types of angelfish are:

• Silver angelfish (These are the wild variety)
• Albino angelfish(These are non pigmented varieties)
• Black angelfish(These are solid ebony in color)
• Marble angelfish( Marble-like swirls of silver and black on their bodies)
• Gold Marble angelfish( They have a light shade of yellow)
• Zebra angelfish(White strips on black body and golden sparkles on their heads)
• Smokey angelfish(These fish have a shade of silver on front half and dark gray or ebony on the back half)

The genetic variations in the scales and fins have given rise to the Pearscale and Veiltail varieties.

Where do Angelfish Live?
The natural angelfish habitat is the Amazon river in South America. Both, Pt. altum and Pt. dumerili species are found in Rio Negro. They generally swim in the soft acidic waters, where there are numerous tree roots and vegetation. They also inhabit the floating meadows of the Amazon basin. They are also found in slow-moving rivers, with little current and the grassy lakes in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. They were introduced in Europe sometime around 1820. The angelfish were bred in captivity in United States for the first time in the year 1930. They are found in waters all over the world like lagoons, reef slopes, drop offs, rocky areas, etc. These fishes are commonly found in the coral reefs. In the North America, six species of Angelfish are found to inhabit the waters near the Caribbean islands. In the eastern Atlantic, they inhabit the Ascension Islands and St. Paul's Rocks. They are commonly found in the water bodies of Europe, Asia and North Africa, Eurasia, Australia and New Zealand, where there is a growth of bulrushes. As they are flat bodied, they can easily squeeze in the bulrushes to seek shelter from predator fish.

Angelfish is a very easy to maintain aquarium fish. They can be found in every aquarium pet shop. These uniquely shaped fish are one of a kind and greet anyone who comes near their fish tank. Angelfish are now rarely fished from their natural habitat as many varieties are now bred in-house. Bring home these delightful fish and watch these 'angels in water' add grace and elegance to your aquarium.