Resplendent Angel Care Guide
Centropyge resplendens is a small dwarf angelfish endemic to Ascension Island, blue-bodied with yellow markings and a yellow tail.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Centropyge resplendens, the resplendent pygmy angelfish, is a small Pomacanthidae species described by Lubbock and Sankey in 1975. The body is largely deep blue with a yellow snout patch and yellow along the back to a yellow caudal fin. It reaches about 6 cm total length.
Taxonomy
- Family: Pomacanthidae
- Genus: Centropyge
- Scientific name: Centropyge resplendens
Habitat
Endemic to the waters around Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It occurs over rock and rubble substrates at depths of about 15-40 m.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 200 L
- Temperature: 24-26 °C
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Specific gravity: 1.024-1.026
- dKH: 8-12
- Adult size: 6-8 cm
- Lifespan: 8-15 years
Diet
Feeds on algae and detritus. In captivity it requires a mature tank with microalgae for grazing plus small prepared foods, mysis and marine algae offered frequently.
Reef compatibility
Reef compatibility is variable, as with most Centropyge it may sample coral polyps and clam mantles. A peaceful, well-fed specimen in a mature tank is usually well behaved. Maintain specific gravity 1.024-1.026 and dKH 8-12.
Compatibility
Semi-aggressive toward other dwarf angels; avoid mixing Centropyge species and aggressive damsels. Tangs, clownfish, wrasses and gobies make suitable companions.
Breeding
It is a protogynous hermaphrodite in which the dominant female becomes male; the sex change can reverse over a few weeks. The species has been bred in captivity, although infrequently.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern. It is rare and highly valued in the aquarium trade.
Resplendent Angel (Centropyge resplendens) Breeding Guide
Overview
The resplendent angel, Centropyge resplendens, is a small dwarf angelfish that hails only from Ascension Island in the central Atlantic. Since export restrictions on Ascension marine life it became scarce in the trade. It is among the few Centropyge species to have been captive-raised, but that was accomplished at a specialist marine hatchery rather than a home aquarium.
Sexing
As a Centropyge it is a protogynous hermaphrodite: individuals start as females and the dominant member of a group can change to male within days. There is no stable external sex marker, so social hierarchy rather than appearance determines sex.
Conditioning
Establishing a compatible male-female pair or harem in a large, mature system is the starting point for any breeding attempt. The species' rarity, high cost and the difficulty of keeping multiple individuals together make sourcing and conditioning breeders impractical outside dedicated programmes.
Spawning Behavior & Trigger
Like other dwarf angels it spawns pelagically, the pair rising into the water column to release eggs and sperm, typically near dusk. This upward open-water spawning ascent cannot be reproduced reliably in a home aquarium.
Egg & Fry Care
Eggs and larvae are pelagic and very small. Rearing the larvae through their long planktonic phase requires cultured first foods such as copepod nauplii and tightly controlled conditions — the technical core of the documented captive-rearing success. A captive-raised specimen from Reef Culture Technologies was born and raised in Hawaii using Pacific seawater.
Common Challenges
Even though the resplendent angel is one of the rare captive-bred dwarf angels, that achievement underlines how specialised the process is. Replicating pelagic spawning and rearing the minute larvae keeps this species a hatchery- and research-scale undertaking, not a home-aquarium project.