The Gold Marble Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) is a tropical freshwater fish from the Cichlidae family, native to the Amazon River Basin in South America.
The Angelfish grows to about 15 centimetres (6 inches) is laterally compressed, which means that it is flat and thin in a vertical position. This enable it to move among river reeds and grasses.
Gold Marble Angelfish
The Gold Marble Angelfish has triangular dorsal (back) fins. It has black marbled stripes with patches of gold.
Angelfish are excellent aquarium fish, although they eat small fish. They like warm water around 27C (80F). In aquariums, they eat flakes, pellets or frozen fish food.
They become adults after 6-12 months.
They are monogamous, finding one mate for life. Females lay a line of 100-1,200 eggs on a leaf or log, and take 7-10 days to hatch. Both parents look after the young angelfish.
It is usually very difficult to distinguish a female from a male, because they look almost identical.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM