the.com/angelfish
a serene-looking saint that will eat its own babies without a second thought
means A flat, often disc-shaped tropical fish—either the freshwater cichlid or the marine species—prized in aquariums for its graceful, fin-trailing silhouette.
from A plain English compound of "angel" and "fish," coined for the creature's wide, winglike fins that suggest an angel's spread of feathers. "Angel" traces back through Latin angelus to Greek angelos, "messenger"; "fish" descends from Old English fisc. The name is descriptive rather than devout—nobody mistook this fin-flaring eater for the heavenly host, but the resemblance to wings was too good to pass up.
- freshwater royalty
- Amazon natives mistaken for picky reef snobs
- cannibal parents
- will snack on their own eggs and fry
- pair bonds
- often mate for life, then murder rivals
- shape trick
- flat bodies hide among reeds like blades
- saltwater imposters
- marine angelfish are unrelated, just sharing the name
pterophyllum scalare — south american freshwater fish, most popular aquarium angelfish species since the 1920s
pomacanthus imperator — emperor angelfish, indo-pacific coral reef fish with distinctive yellow and blue stripes
holacanthus bermudensis — queen angelfish of the western atlantic, bright yellow and blue caribbean species