Regal angelfish

Pygoplites diacanthus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth6–25 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary, March, and April
How commonCommon

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

The royal angelfish, or regal angelfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae, and the monotypic genus Pygoplites. It is found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceans. It can grow as long as 25 cm (9.8 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Royal angelfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 284 records
February: 663 records
March: 746 records
April: 1,032 records
May: 537 records
June: 607 records
July: 592 records
August: 425 records
September: 522 records
October: 632 records
November: 448 records
December: 299 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–25 m · Deepest record: 58 m

0–10 m: 597 records
10–20 m: 1,296 records
20–30 m: 858 records
30–40 m: 20 records
40–50 m: 8 records
50–60 m: 8 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 38 records
28–30 °C: 447 records

Photos

(c) Jay Brasher, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Selim Türeli, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christian Berg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Regal angelfish, Royal angelfish, Angelfish, Blue-banded Angelfish, Bluebanded Angelfish, Empress Angelfish, regal angelfish, Regal Angelfish pasific, Regal angelfish, Royal angelfish, royal angelfish, Royal Empress Angel, Royal Empress Angelfish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Pfauenaugen-Kaiserfisch, Pfauenkaiserfisch, Pfauen-Kaiserfisch
Spanish: Pez ángel real
Filipino: Paru-parang dagat
French: Holacanthe duc, Poisson-ange duc, Poisson-ange royal
Japanese: Nishikiyakko, ニシキヤッコ
Thai: ปลาสินสมุทรบั้งเหลือง
Simplified Chinese: 双棘甲尻鱼, 帝王神仙魚, 皇帝, 錦紋蓋刺魚, 雙棘甲尻魚

Other scientific names: Chaetodon diacanthus, Holacanthus diacanthus, Pygoplites boddaerti, Pygoplites dux

Similar species

Coral Beauty
Centropyge bispinosa
Lemon Peel
Centropyge flavissima
Threespot angelfish
Apolemichthys trimaculatus
Bicolor angelfish
Centropyge bicolor
Damsel Angelfish
Centropyge fisheri
Golden Angelfish
Centropyge heraldi

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
5,645 open-data records from 1902 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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