Reef Fish Guide designation and why

Because large angelfish are beautiful marine specimens, and there are expert aquarists who are occasionally able to keep them in large, specialized tanks, they are still frequently found in pet stores. Rare specimens fetch high prices, often exceeding $100. Based on common destructive methods of capture, large angelfish are an unsustainable choice for the home aquarium. Aquarists must avoid specimens collected via cyanide, which often come from Indonesia and the Philippines. These doomed individuals are often unnaturally brightly colored, and very approachable; that is, they don’t move much. Occasionally, some species may survive once in the aquarium while others reject food right off and die a slow, miserable death. Therefore, their chance for survival is poor. Most of the Holacanthus spp. are sponge-feeders and rely on a natural and plentiful source in the wild for food, nearly impossible to replicate in the home aquarium. Although some species can be switched to a varied aquarium diet, these sponge-feeders will usually not eat in captivity and die in months.

Distribution
Circum-tropical; Indo-Pacific: East Africa to the Samoan and Phoenix Is., north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia; throughout Micronesia; prominent species in shallows to a few hundred feet on rocky and coral reefs worldwide. Most are found in the western Pacific.

Maximum size
These large fish range from 7.1 - 19.7 inches (20 - 50 cm)