Page Title

When Buying Angelfish there are a few things that you need to be
aware of.

What type of Angelfish would you like?
Angelfish types are called phenotypes. So the next time someone
asks you which phenotype you are looking for, hopefully by the end of
this guide you will have a better idea what they are asking of you. This
is a good starting point as there are lots of different phenotypes to
choose from in the market place today. It also seems there are more
new domestic phenotypes being bred every year, to make your choice
even more difficult.

Wild type (+/+)
The ancestors of our modern domestic phenotypes originated from
South American streams, in tributaries leading towards the Amazon
basin. Wild caught type are called Pterophyllum's which are further
divided into three sub-categories, Pterophyllum Altum, Pterophyllum
Scalare, and Pterophyllum Leopoldi(Dumerilli). Most wild caught will
fall into these 3 categories even if they have spots or crowns of
different coloring.

-Altum: The largest and most spectacular (my personal opinion) are
the Altums with their pinched snouts, large bodies, long fins and wide
black vertical bars on the sides of their brown and silver bodies.

-Scalares: What I believe to be true ancestors from where most of the
domestic phenotypes of today originated. These have body shapes
similar to Altums but slightly smaller, their snouts are not as pinched,
vertical bars are black and narrower and they have silver bodies (with
no brown).

-Leopoldi (Dumerilii): The long nosed Angelfish are close to the
same appearance of the Scalares. Their noticeable characteristic
traits are the more rounded snout, the dark spot under the dorsal fin
and a round mark on the side just behind the eye. There are lots of
different opinions and theories on what the true name should be. It is
not even clear whether they might be two completely different
phenotypes. Since currently there is no clear distinction of the
difference I will continue to use Leopoldi reference until I receive
further proof to the contrary.

Domestic type
Here is where the fun really starts! You need to decide what size of
tail you would like your Angel to have.

-Standard tail, has a short tail type. Unless you request otherwise, this
will be the typical tail type you can expect to receive and are closest to
the tail length you would expect to see on a wild.
-Veil tail, has a very long type of tail. These are quite a bit longer than
standard tails. The rays (supporting rib structure) of the tail are quite
long and straight forming what resembles a V shape that is laid on its
side. The membrane cells that form between the rays extend out a lot
further than the ones on the standard tail.
-Super Veil tail, has an extremely long tail. These are very very long
and the extra length causes the tail to droop towards the bottom
of the tank. Naturally as the tails get longer so do the other fins on an
Angel. Their proportionality is relative to size you would expect to find
on the standard (wild type) but are super sized in length. We could
let this side track into the topic on the anatomy of the Angelfish but feel
this is a topic best done on a page of its own.

Okay, still with me? Would you like your Angel to have Pearl Scales?

Let me get into a little bit more of an explanation of this particular trait.
All wilds and for a long time most domestic Angels had smooth scales
that were uniform over their entire body. The pearl scale trait causes
the Angels to have a rippled bubble like effect. The gene that causes
this effect is also influenced by environment and age. Funny thing
about this trait is the pearl scale does not show (express) until 3 to 6
months of age. Then only if husbandry and water conditions are
maintained pristine. However once the trait has expressed, it will stay
with the Angel for the rest of it's life regardless of the conditions it may
live in.

A little more on the history, in the late 1980's this new scale type
showed up on a Gold type Angel in the aquatic markets of Hong Kong.
I wish I had more information on this trait to share but the dates of the
export and import records was all I was able to attain while searching
out it's origin. Some world markets got creative during a slump in
sales in mid 1995 and started a campaign calling them Diamond
scales. Although this too could be a descriptive way to market this
Angelfish type, original info that predated this campaign listed them as
a Pearl Scale. So today I continue to use Pearl Scale as its trait name.

Which color or color combination would you like? This is where the
list gets quite long, so for the sake of brevity, I will only list a group of
the main types here. If you want a more complete list of all the possible
phenotypes please check out the Phenotype Library at The Angelfish
Society website.

There are a lot of crosses from this basic list that create other exotic
phenotypes and don't forget that these all, can possibly have the
Pearl Scale bred into them as well.

Finally, what body size Angel would you like?
We use the United States coins to help describe the size of the
Angelfish you are buying. Naturally as the fish gains in size the price
goes up to compensate for the costs to raise the fish to a larger size.
You will see listings of the fish as wiggler size, pea size, Dime size,
Nickel size, Quarter Size, Half Dollar Size(50 cent), and Silver Dollar
size. As the Angels grow larger than 1/2 dollar their rate of growth
slows down. They reach their maturity age(Adult) at roughly 8 to 9
months, we have heard details of some Angels spawning as early as
6 months but have not experienced it first hand. When they get to this
size and age (1/2 dollar or larger), we start to label them as pre
Breeders. When they reach spawning maturity we call them Adults.
When it comes to sexing mature Adults, it really is a guessing game
until they spawn and fertilize the eggs as to which is which. Naturally
the price for mature mating pairs are more as the result of space
requirements, diets and special cares to keep them healthy and
breeding.

One should be aware that the actual fish size description should be for
the body size only and should not include any of the fins or tails in the
size.

Thank you for reading this page. I sincerely hope it gives you enough
knowledge and education to buy the type of Angelfish you want.

Don M.

Buying Guide to Freshwater Angelfish

Photo Caption for Above
This is a stream in Pozo Azul,
Amazonas, Venezuela where
Altum still swim wild.

Photo Caption for Above
Here are some true Altums. The
Brown coloring in the dorsal fins
as well as the body really help
define their characteristic trait.
Their high arched bodies with
pinched snouts and wide body
stripes make them quite
magnificent Specimens.
Photo courtesy of Rhett at
Mongabay.com

New Jersey FishyBiz "When Quality Counts and Service Matters"

Photo Caption for Above
Here is a picture of a Super Veil
type tail. People are sometimes
fooled on what a Super Veil
looks like. Once you have seen
a true Super Veil you will never
be fooled again.

Photo Caption for Above
Here is a good example of what
the Pearlscale Trait will look like.

Photo Caption for Above
Veil type tail.

Photo Caption for Above
Standard type tail.

Here is a wild caught Scalare, it
has a smaller body than that of
the Altum, with no extended tail
rays. However some do have tail
rays. The body of the Scalares is
silver(No Brown).

Photo Caption for Above
Here is a Leopoldi, notice the
rounded nose. I wish I could size
the pictures better for a closer
comparison but the dorsal fin is
not as tall as that of a Scalare.
Also this picture angle does not
show it, but the vertical stripe
through the eye actually
continues over top of the snout
and back down through the other
eye with out breaking form.