Aquaculture's Success Proven with a Juvenile Cortez Angel at Quality Marine

Once again, Quality Marine are showing their dedication to offering aquacultured fish to the aquarium industry. It’s been an excellent couple of years for aquacultured angelfish, and Quality Marine is proud to announce the arrival of Aquacultured Cortez Angelfish (Pomacanthus zonipectus) to their stocklist. According to their press release, “Having this aquacultured species here is a first for Quality Marine and possibly the United States. At Quality Marine, we believe strongly that aquaculture and short supply chains are essential for the long term viability of our trade and for the health of our oceans, which makes successful captive breeding all the more important.”

Cortez Angelfish are one of the more attractive and hardy of the large angelfish, but are not commonly offered for sale in the aquarium trade. Like any wild caught fish, newly imported wild Cortez Angels often suffer from skin parasites such as Neobenedenia and difficulties adapting to commercial diets. Aquacultured fish are far less likely to have health or feeding issues.

PHOTO CREDIT: Cortez Angelfish CCBY 2.0 LASZLO ILYES https://www.flickr.com/photos/laszlo-photo/2056534167/in/photolist-48JgXD-ov4XuT-nvGntG

Cortez Angelfish are naturally beautiful, but there are reports that some aquacultured individuals are showing unusual and exaggerated markings. Juveniles are black with contrasting yellow curved lines and bright blue edges on the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins. Transitioning Cortez Angelfish develop thin, bright blue lines in dazzling patterns. As adults, those lines eventually break up and fade onto a light grey background with black scales and thick, mustard yellow, crescent shaped bars behind the eye and on the chest.

Cortez Angelfish make great additions to fish only aquariums as the only large angelfish. Adults can sometimes grow as large as 18” and should be housed in tanks no smaller than 200 gallons. Their diet in the wild consists of sponges, tunicates, algae, bryozoans and eggs, which can make wild caught Cortez Angelfish difficult to feed in captivity. The aquacultured specimens offered by Quality Marine are already accustomed to prepared diets including frozen, meaty foods. These angelfish will thrive on a diet that includes frozen Mysis shrimp, clams on the half shell, herbivore blends, angelfish preparations containing sponges, marine worms, and eggs.

Aquacultured Cortez Angelfish are not only hardier, healthier, and more beautiful than their wild counterparts, they are sustainable and better for the environment. Stay tuned to the Marine Depot Blog to hear more amazing marine aquaculture successes.