Vermiculated Angelfish Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Deep, disc-shaped, laterally compressed body typical of angelfish
• Fine, wavy ('vermiculated') blue lines covering the head and nape
• Bright yellow body and tail contrasting with a broad dark blue-black band across the mid-body and rear dorsal/anal fins
• Thin blue trim along the dorsal and anal fin edges
• Compact size, generally under 18 cm

Common look-alikes

• Bicolor angelfish (Centropyge bicolor): shares a yellow-and-blue color split but has a simple, solid two-tone pattern with no fine squiggly lines on the head.
• Blue-girdled angelfish (Pomacanthus navarchus): also blue and yellow with facial markings, but is larger, with a rounded blue 'girdle' band across the body rather than fine head vermiculations, and a very different, ring-patterned juvenile stage.

Where you'll see one

Inhabits shallow coral reefs, lagoons, and reef flats of the western Pacific and Indo-Malayan region, typically sheltering close to branching coral for cover. It tends to stay near the bottom, picking at sponges and encrusting invertebrates, and is usually seen singly or in closely bonded pairs rather than in groups.