Angelfishes belong to the family Pomancanthidae. All angelfishes have a large backward-pointing spine on the gill cover. This attribute is reflected in their scientific name which combines poma “cheek” and ancanthus “spine”. There are approximately 80 species of angelfishes worldwide. Angelfish are similar and sometimes confused with Butterflyfishes. They have a disk-shaped body with rounded foreheads. Angelfishes typically grow to over 1 foot in length except for smaller pygmy angelfish of the family Centropyge.
Angelfishes are “haremic protogynous hermaphrodites”, meaning they are born female and then as they mature the largest and most dominate of the females can change to a male.