The Peppermint Angelfish that is swimming around the Waikiki Aquarium right now is a sensational fish and we’ve got the whole scoop on this particular Paracentropyge boylei. Rich Pyle did indeed catch this peppermint angelfish in Moorea at a depth of 365 feet, and several more were spotted at 350 feet where the video above was made.
On the same dive Rich says he also saw at least two, maybe three new species of Plectranthias, but these were neither collected nor photographed.
The peppermint angelfish really is a temporary resident the Waikiki Aquarium until the fish is sent to the Smithsonian as part of the Moorea Biocode project. As you can see Rich Pyle and the Moorea deep diving team were all using rebreathers to obtain so much bottom time at such a depth.
It is very exciting news to learn that the range of Paracentropyge boylei extends from the Cook Islands to Moorea in French Polynesia. Perhaps in the future we’ll be able to see some deep diving collection of more peppermint angelfish destined for very special aquariums.
