Gray angelfish

The gray angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus), also written as grey angelfish and known in Jamaica as the pot cover, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the marine angelfish family, Pomacanthidae. It is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.

Habitat

The gray angelfish is found at depths between 3 and 30 metres (9.8 and 98.4 ft) over coral and rocky reefs. Juveniles occur at shallow depths on patch reefs and in seagrass beds.

Distribution

The gray angelfish is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean from New York to Rio de Janeiro, though it is typically not found north of Florida during the winter. Its range extends to all of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It has been introduced to Bermuda from the Bahamas.

Behaviour

The gray angelfish is a diurnal species hiding in the reef during the night. They mainly feed on sponges but have also been recorded feeding on algae, as well as tunicates, zoantharians, gorgonians, hydroids, and bryozoans. The juveniles act as cleaner fish, establishing a cleaning station which is visited by a variety of larger fishes for the juvenile gray angelfish to remove and consume their ectoparasites.