Bellus Angel (Genicanthus bellus) Care Guide
Genicanthus bellus, the ornate or bellus angelfish, is a deep-water reef-safe swallowtail angel from the Indo-Pacific with strong sexual dichromatism.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Genicanthus bellus, the ornate or bellus angelfish, is a swallowtail angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae. FishBase records a maximum length of about 18.0 cm. The species is markedly sexually dichromatic: per Wikipedia, females show greyish to bluish bodies with wide black bands and a blue longitudinal stripe, while males are pale bluish-grey with horizontal golden stripes along the flanks.
Taxonomy
- Family: Pomacanthidae
- Genus: Genicanthus
- Scientific name: Genicanthus bellus
- Common synonyms: ornate angelfish, bellus lyretail angelfish
Habitat
FishBase reports an Indo-Pacific range including the Cocos-Keeling Atoll, the Philippines, Palau, Guam, the Cook and Society islands and Tonga. It is a deep-water species: FishBase gives a depth range of 24-110 m, usually 50-100 m, where it schools along steep current-swept outer reef drop-offs.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 700 L (185 gal)
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- dKH (carbonate hardness): 8-12
- Lifespan: 10-15 years
Diet
The species feeds on plankton according to FishBase, and Wikipedia adds that it also takes benthic invertebrates such as polychaetes and bryozoans and some algae. In aquaria provide frequent small feedings of meaty planktonic foods such as mysis and enriched brine shrimp.
Compatibility
It is a peaceful, mid-water angel. FishBase notes that it forms harems of 3-7 individuals. Suitable companions include tangs, wrasses, anthias and clownfish, while aggressive large Pomacanthus angels are best avoided.
Reef compatibility
As a planktivore it is regarded as reef-safe and generally ignores corals. Coming from deep water, it benefits from subdued lighting and stable conditions, with specific gravity around 1.024-1.026 and carbonate hardness of 8-12 dKH.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern (assessed 2009), as reported by FishBase.
Genicanthus bellus (Bellus Angel) Breeding Guide
Overview
Genicanthus bellus is a deep-water swallowtail angelfish of the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean, recorded from Tahiti and Guam to the Philippines, southern Japan and southern Indonesia. It lives at depths of roughly 25 to 100 m on current-swept outer drop-offs, feeding mainly on plankton in midwater shoals. It is reef-safe and notable as one of the first swallowtail angels to be successfully captive-bred.
Sexing
The species is sexually dichromatic: males are pale bluish to greyish with horizontal golden stripes along the flanks, while females and juveniles show a greyish-blue ground colour crossed by wide black bands. All angelfish in the genus are sequential protogynous hermaphrodites, and a dominant female can change sex to male in as little as a fortnight when the male is absent.
Spawning Behavior & Trigger
Genicanthus bellus lives in schools that contain harems of three to seven fish on deep reefs. Swallowtail angels are pair-spawners: courtship intensifies toward dusk, when a female rises into the water column with the male and releases buoyant pelagic eggs at the peak of the ascent.
Egg & Fry Care
The eggs are extremely small and pelagic, hatching into minute prolarvae that are far too small for standard rotifers. Commercial rearing has relied on cultured copepods and other tiny live prey, with larvae reared only to metamorphosis at variable, often low, survival. There is no parental care, and larval rearing is the central bottleneck.
Common Challenges
- Pelagic eggs disperse on release and cannot be collected from a display.
- Prolarvae need cultured copepods, not rotifers.
- Even commercial rearing yields only a handful of survivors per batch.
- Its deep-water origin adds collection and acclimation difficulty for broodstock.