FishCommonVisible while snorkeling

Royal angelfish

Pygoplites diacanthus

With its blue-and-orange stripes it is one of the reef's most beautiful fish – and Red Sea individuals outshine royal angelfish anywhere else.

Photo: iNaturalist – (c) zsispeo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)

Even seasoned divers slow down for a royal angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus): eight to ten slightly slanted blue-and-white stripes edged in black run across its orange body, as if painted on with a brush, and the rear of the dorsal fin is deep blue speckled with light-blue dots. Here comes the local bragging right: the Red Sea population has a vivid orange chest and belly, while its Indo-Pacific cousins are greyish there – the most colourful royal angelfish in the world live right here.

It is the only species in its genus and the pickiest eater among the large angelfish: it feeds almost exclusively on sponges and tunicates, so it always stays near food-rich walls, overhangs and cave mouths. It moves alone or in pairs, and while not exactly shy, it never strays far from cover – one flick of the tail and it vanishes into a crevice.

It is common at Hurghada, but you need to know where to look: not out into the blue but along the wall, at the mouths of swim-throughs and small caves, between 5 and 30 metres. On the walls of Small Giftun and Carless Reef it shows up on nearly every dive. Photograph it side-on, drifting slowly – swim straight at it and it will duck into cover at once.

Did you know?

Beautiful as it is, it is the aquarist's nightmare: the royal angelfish fares poorly in captivity because its sponge diet is nearly impossible to replicate. In the wild it can live 15 years – this is a fish truly best admired on the reef.

Where can you meet it?

It favours walls cut by crevices: a regular on Small Giftun and Carless Reef, and often met at the swim-throughs of El Fanadir and Umm Gamar.

Frequently asked questions

Sometimes, along crevices on shallower reef edges – but its real domain is the wall below 5 metres. Your odds are far better as a diver, especially around small caves and swim-throughs.

Their chest and belly are bright orange, whereas oceanic relatives are greyish-blue there. That is why divers say the finest royal angelfish photos are taken in the Red Sea.

Not at all – it is completely harmless and more afraid of you. The challenge is getting close before it retreats into a crevice: move slowly, breathe calmly, and the photo is yours.