The Queen Angelfish is one of the most beautiful of all the fishes of the Caribbean coral reefs. This fish changes its color pattern as it grows up. The adult Queen Angelfish was about 14 inches long. We saw this adult Queen Angelfish at Basketstar Reef near the Exuma islands of The Bahamas, the same reef where we also saw the very young juvenile Queen Angelfish. This fish shows the adult markings clearly. The adult Queen Angelfish is outlined in turquoise blue with a thin red coloring inside this blue outline. Its body is both blue and yellow, colored by blue scales each with a bright yellow outline. The adult has no vertical blue bars on either its cheek or its side. Its "crown" is fully developed, a dark blue spot with a bright blue outline and filled with tiny blue spots.

The adult Queen Angelfish is more shy than the juvenile Queen Angelfish. This bashful attitude can make it hard for divers to get close enough to take good pictures of these fish. If you move slowly so as not to scare these fish, sometimes they will hang around or even swim nearby for a good picture.

ReefNews President Jonathan Dowell took these pictures using a Canon 10D digital camera with a Sigma 18-50 mm zoom lens in an Ikelite housing with an Ikelite strobe.

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