Scalaire

The angelfish is a territorial fish that lives, at a minimum, in groups of five to six individuals. When the fish is adult, couples form spontaneously. The lifetime fidelity of angelfish is not always a reality and it is not uncommon to see couples "divorce" or spawn too regularly (female exhaustion). And often, a couple of angelfish find themselves in volumes that are too small (sometimes less than 100 liters), which sometimes leads to poor growth or abnormal behaviors. The angelfish can be happily associated with other Amazonian species having similar needs such as the cardinalis (Paracheirodon axelrodi) or red-nosed fish (Hemmigramus rhodostomus). It is also very playful with its congeners, especially when they are young, and they follow the person who feeds them.

There are more than a hundred varieties of angelfish, which are mainly due to deliberate selections in Asian breeding programs. Angelfish have a laterally compressed body, with large dorsal and ventral fins ending in filaments, which give the fish a triangular shape. The body is taller than long. At the age of two years, the animal measures 18 to 20 cm high for 12 to 15 cm long. The pelvic fins are atrophied, forming long filaments. Wild specimens are silvery with black stripes. Farm specimens are silver striped with black, marbled with black, graded or albino and can have blue on the ventral and dorsal fins. The angelfish is capable of temporarily changing color depending on its mood or stress: for example, a silver angelfish striped with black can become entirely silver in a few seconds.

The angelfish lives in marshes or flooded lands where vegetation is dense and the water is clear or muddy.