Colin’s Pygmy Angelfish

Habitat: Natural geographic location:
   The Colin's Pygmy Angelfish are found in the Eastern Indian Ocean and the West Pacific; the Coos-Keeling Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon, Fiji, Palauan and Ogasawara Islands. The were first collected in the Coos-Keeling Islands by Smith-Vaniz and Randall in1974. Smith-Vaniz and Randall also described the Yellowhead Angelfish or Coco's Pygmy Angelfish C. joculator from the same area at that time.
   The species seems rare in their natural habitat and are seen solitarily or in a pair. It is often observed upside down under coral and ruble areas on the steep outer reefs at depths between 79 - 246+ feet (24 - 75+ meters).

Status:
   These fish are not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:
   The Colin's Pygmy Angelfish is blue on the upper 1/4 area of body and yellow on the lower side and has a blue ring around the eye. The caudal, anal, and pelvic fins are yellow. The dorsal fin is blue on the spinous part and yellow posteriorly, and the pectoral fins are yellowish. It has a higher body like the Peppermint Angelfish C. boylei, Barred angelfish C. multifasciata, and the Purplemask Angelfish C. venusta.

Length/Diameter of fish:
   Adults reach 3.5 inches (9 cm).

Maintenance difficulty:
   Special care is needed to get this fish to eat when you first acquire it and it is sometimes hard to maintain. It is a very shy species and needs many crevices to hide even as an adult. Once it is successfully acclimated it will become a rather hardy pet. As it may harm polyps of some stony and soft coral species, so it is not recommended for reef-type aquariums.
   Most of the Centropyge members are very colorful but unfortunately are rather difficult to keep for a long period, and on occasion they suffer from “ich” (white spot disease) and other infectious diseases. They can be treated successfully with medical care or copper drugs, but some species hate sudden changes of water including PH and temperature, and any drug treatment. In the wild a cleaner wrasse (Labroides sp.) will help them by taking parasites from their bodies.

  Diseases that marine angelfish are susceptible to:
Marine Ich (white spot disease), Marine Velvet, and Lymphocystis (a viral infection).

Foods:
   The Colin's Pygmy Angelfish are omnivores. Provide a varied diet. Meaty foods, dried flakes, shrimps, frozen prepared diets for sponge and algae eaters, and tablets are acceptable. Feed frequently at first with various foods, including algae. Once it is successfully acclimatized it will become a rather hardy pet. Feed on it at least twice a day; if it is a tiny juvenile provide it with foods three to four times everyday.

Maintenance:
   Once this angelfish is successfully acclimated it will become fairly hardy. It is quite active and needs many crevices to hide even if it is an adult and plenty of room to swim. Frequent water changes are not necessary, rather normal water changes at 10% biweekly or 20% monthly are fine. Sudden massive water changes can cause trouble.
   For more information see, Marine Aquarium Basics: Maintenance

Aquarium Parameters:
   This is an active fish so needs lots of space for swimming. It also needs many crevices to hide in even as an adult. An aquarium well decorated with rocks/ corals will providing it with many places for retreat
Minimum Tank Length/Size:
   A minimum 50 gallon (189 liters) or more.
Light: Recommended light levels
   It can be kept under strong lights but prefers a dimly lit aquarium.
Temperature:
   This species lives in tropical areas. Temperatures between 75 -79° F (24 - 26° C) will serve them well, but temperatures higher than 84° F (29° C) or below 72 ° F (22° C) would not be good.
Water Movement: Weak, Moderate, Strong
   Water movement is not a significant factor but slow-moving water is preferable.
Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom
   It loves darker areas of the tank and many corals, live rocks and stones are needed for it to be comfortable.

Social Behaviors:
   The Colin's Pygmy Angelfish is recommended for fish only community aquariums. The tank should be well decorated with rocks/ corals with many hiding places even for adults. It is also said to be a reef safe fish as it does well in a coral-rich tank with sessile inverts, but it may eat some species of hard and soft corals. However not every fish is going to damage corals, the behavior of each individual fish will be different. If you do want to keep it in a reef observe its behavior towards the corals closely, removing it to a fish only tank if it tends to pick at them for any length of time.
   A group of several individuals of this angelfish can be kept successfully but they need a lot of space for swimming and many hiding places. It can get along with more aggressive species but smaller tank mates and those that are less aggressive are preferable. Smaller cardinalfish, gobies, tilefish, butterflyfish, fairy basslets, fairy and flasher wrasses, etc. are desirable tank mates. It can be kept with larger and rather territorial angelfishes like Pomacanthus and Holacanthus and also members of Centropyge, Apolemichthys, Genicanthus, Chaetodontoplus and Pygoplites will be acceptable. Small but very territorial fishes like dottybacks should be avoided in the same tank.

Sex: Sexual differences:
   No sexual difference in color is noted.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   In their natural habitat, the pygmy angelfish form a harem dominated by one large male with between one and four smaller mature females and up to nine juveniles. At dusk during the lunar month the male will conduct an elaborate mating ritual and then spawn with each of the females individually. They are pelagic spawners, each pair will rise up several feet above the reef and release the eggs and sperm together directly into the water column. The eggs are fertilized and continue to rise up to the plankton rich surface.
   The Colin's Pygmy Angelfish has been successfully cultivated in a laboratory in Hawaii, on Oahu Island. Several other species of pygmy angelfish have also been successfully cultivated, including the Multicolor Angelfish C. multicolor.
      For more information see, Marine Fish Breeding

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Availability:
   The Colin's Pygmy Angelfish is rarely available at retailers and commands a high price for a Centropyge species, starting at least $130.00 USD. The specimens that are available range between 1 1/2 - 2 3/4 inches (4 - 7 cm) in length and on rare occasions juveniles less than 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) are obtainable.

   This angelfish has been successfully cultivated in a large laboratory in Oahu Island. These captive raise specimens will be kept with great success in the home aquarium.