French Angelfish (Pomacanthus Paru) is another colorful fish that can be spotted in Bonaire’s waters. They are commonly found throughout the Caribbean, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Florida.

Their full-grown size is roughly 10-14 inches (25 to 35 cm), they can be seen at a depth between 15-80 feet (5-25 metres). In appearance they are black with tiny yellow stripes on their scales and the juveniles are even more eye catching, they are black with three wonderfully bright yellow bars across their bodies.

These fish are cleaners, and serve an interesting aquatic function by cleaning parasites and debris off larger fish. They have a large variety of clientele and often clean jacks, snappers, wrasses, grunts, morays and surgeonfish.

They are monogamous fish and the pairs can be seen swimming together over coral reefs, they are also very territorial and are known to defend their territory from other spawning pairs. Their diet consists mostly of sessile invertebrates, plants and sponges, which they cover in mucous to help them digest.

French angelfish have culinary value to some and are fished and eaten, but they aren’t widely commercially fished. Due to the bright colors of the Juveniles, they can be caught for display purposes in Aquariams. Thankfully these fish aren’t endangered and therefore scientists believe that these activities aren’t endangering the population of these fish at present.