Pitcairn Female Angelfish (Genicanthus spinus)

Another beautiful rarity in its own right the Pitcairn angelfish (Genicanthus spinus) takes illusiveness to another level rivaling that of the Peppermint angelfish. Found in only a few locales in the Eastern Pacific such as Cook Islands to Ducie Atoll (Pitcairn), this fish is found no shallower than 40m with 80-100m being more common. Like the other members of this genus, the Pitcairn angelfish is a zooplanktivore, ignoring sessile invertebrates as a food source which is what makes its other swallowtail cogenitors (i.e. Genicanthius bellus) so popular and sought after in the reef aquarium hobby. Females are a uniformed silver-grey with hints of blue hues while the male is grey with vertical black bars on the upper half of the body highlighted by a yellow stripe on the dorsal, anal and tail fins. Males are rumored to top out at 35cm (~14).