Hybrid marine angelfish are relatively abundant in the wild and with increasing imports of this popular fish group we are seeing more and more hybrid Pomacanthids. Case in point is this beautiful hybrid flagfin x goldflake angelfish, Apolemichthys trimaculata x A. xanthopunctatus. The flagfin and goldflake angelfish look very similar as juveniles but they start to differentiate at about 2″ or 5cm long, wherein a flagfin will begin to show the black anal fin and the goldflake will have already absorbed the eyespot into a nearly black of the soft dorsal fin coloration and it will already show a black tail and a darkened base body color with yellow spots or stripes. As you can see, the 5.5cm long specimen above shows an intermediate color pattern and it will likely grow into a fish that looks mostly like a goldflake angelfish with a bright yellow body and a black edged dorsal and caudal fin, unlike being all yellow in the flagfin or all black in the goldflake angelfish. The specimen above quickly sold for just over $400 at B-Box Aquarium to a buyer who may or may not even realize what they have. This specimen was almost certainly collected from the Christmas Island chain in the Pacific Ocean, where A. trimaculata and A. xanthopunctata are both known to occur.
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