Holacanthus clarionensis (Clarion Angelfish): Breeding Guide

Holacanthus clarionensis is a Revillagigedo endemic and one of the few large angelfish bred commercially. Captive rearing succeeded at a specialist facility, not in home tanks.

Overview

Holacanthus clarionensis is a large angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae with a very limited Eastern Pacific range, largely restricted to the Revillagigedo Islands of Mexico. Wikipedia gives a maximum length near 20 cm and lists it as IUCN Vulnerable and CITES Appendix II. Collection from the now-protected Revillagigedo Islands is illegal, so trade specimens come from aquaculture.

Sexing

As in other Holacanthus, no reliable external sexual dimorphism is documented for this species. Pairing is established behaviourally within a controlled broodstock system rather than by visual sexing.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

Like its congeners, the Clarion angelfish is a pelagic broadcast spawner that releases eggs and milt into open water. Reef Builders reports that this was the first Holacanthus species spawned and raised in captivity, achieved at the Bali Aquarich facility of Su Wen-Ping, with pair-bonded broodstock held in dedicated ponds.

Egg & Fry Care

Eggs and larvae are pelagic, requiring planktonic feeds and stable conditions through a long settlement period. Reef Builders notes the captive-bred Clarion reached salable size at Bali Aquarich and that Quality Marine offered the first aquacultured specimens in North America, with early animals among the most expensive captive-bred fish sold at the time.

Common Challenges

Sourcing legal broodstock is the first obstacle, since wild collection is banned. The pelagic egg and larval biology demands hatchery-scale plankton culture, so reproduction is confined to specialist aquaculture operations and is not achievable in home aquariums.