Goldflake x Griffis Angelfish Hybrid From Pacific Island Aquatics

Pacific Island Aquatics took a break from selling quality marine aquarium fish but now the company is staging a big comeback. First PIA gave us the newest photograph of a flame x potter hybrid in over a decade, and now they’re showing off a whole crop of juvenile Apolemichthys angelfish, including another scrumptious hybrid.

griffis-goldflake-angelfish-juvenile — This muted juvenile hybrid of the griffis and goldflake angelfish will likely grow up into a very odd looking specimen

There’s only a few species of Apolemichthys angelfish in the genus, and very few of them have overlapping ranges, and therefore very few ways to recombine genetics into hybrid specimens. The Armitage angelfish, a hybrid of the flagfin and cream angelfish is well documented, as is the goldflake x flagfin hybrid cross.

griffis-angelfish-juvenile — It’s very rare to see such small specimens of Griffis Angelfish

However there’s one hybrid which we’ve heard rumors of in the past, but which is very poorly documented, and this is the Griffis x Goldflake hybrid. The Griffis angelfish, Apolemichthys griffisi, is rare enough to begin with, so finding a cross with another exotic fish like the goldflake angelfish is incredibly remarkable.

Better yet, the hybrid griffis x goldflake angelfish hybrid was part of a bumper crop of juvenile Apolemichthys that Pacific Island Aquatics received this year. Taken altogether you can clearly see and easily appreciate the differences between these closely related species.

goldflake-angelfish-juvenile — Once a year there is a season for very small and adorable goldflake angelfish such as this one.

Alas, the bandit angelfish doesn’t overlap in distribution with any of its congeners so we’ll have to be content with the ghost bandit angelfish which appeared from the captive breeding efforts of Karen Brittain. Since Goldflake angelfish are mostly yellow with yellow spots, and griffis angelfish are grey-ish with bold black and white markings, there’s no telling how the fish will grow and develop as it matures.

This uncertainty of the future appearance of rare hybrids is what makes them particularly appealing because it’s a total surprise how the patterns of both species will combine in the mature adult hybrid angelfish. Thankfully, Apolemichtys angelfish such as this hybrid are pretty safe addition to a reef aquarium and we’d go our of our way to visit such a rare fish residing in an aquascape of living corals. [Pacific Island Aquatics]

bandit-angelfish-juvenile — An adorable baby bandit angelfish, a species which is much more desirable when it is small than when it is large

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Jake Adams

Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.