Chaetodontoplus duboulayi (female)

Chaetodontoplus duboulayi, commonly known as the Scribbled angelfish, is a medium-sized angelfish. They start out as very dark fish with a yellow vertical band behind the eye, a stripe on the nose and yellow rims on the fins as well as a vertical bar in the caudal fin. Already very young they develop bright blue scribbled lines in the fins and the dark body will slowly develop a scribbled pattern as well. As they get older, the caudal fin becomes yellow, the band behind the eye becomes a little more yellowish-orange and much broader and on their back, just below the dorsal fin forms a broad horizontal yellowish-orange stripe as well. The difference between males and females also becomes apparent because females have a very random scribbled pattern on their flanks, while in males these patterns look more like irregular horizontal lines.

Like all other angelfish it's hermaphroditic and the most dominant fish will turn into a male when there is no other male around. These fish are quite peaceful but be careful combining them with fish a lot smaller or larger and other (dwarf)angelfishes. In nature, sponges and tunicates are an important part of their diet. Wild specimens acclimated easiest in a tank with a lot of sponges and live food. Tank bred specimens are familiar with dry food and are much easier to wean on frozen and dry food. These fish aren't considered reef safe and you need to be especially careful with ornamental sponges, LPS, tube worms and clams. Keeping them well fed seems to reduce the risk so make sure to feed them a proper varied diet of algae and meaty foods to make them really happy!