Embryonic and early larval development of two marine angelfish, Centropyge bicolor and Centropyge bispinosa

Abstract

SummaryMarine angelfish (family: Pomacanthidae) are among the most sought-after fish species in the saltwater aquarium trade. However, there is a lack of information in the literature on their early ontogeny. The objective of this study was to describe the embryonic and early larval development of two dwarf angelfish, the bicolour angelfish, Centropyge bicolor and the coral beauty angelfish, Centropyge bispinosa. The eggs of these two species were obtained from spontaneous spawning of the broodstock fish in captivity and incubated at 26.0 ± 0.2°C throughout the study. Fertilized eggs (n = 15) of both species are transparent, pelagic and spherical; the mean diameters of the eggs were measured at 703.6 ± 7.8 μm for C. bicolor and 627.6 ± 7.8 μm for C. bispinosa. The eggs of both species possessed a narrow perivitelline space, smooth and thin chorion, a homogenous and non-segmented yolk as well as a single oil globule. Overall, the observed embryonic development pattern of C. bicolor and C. bispinosa was very similar, and the main difference was the embryonic pigmentation pattern, which only became evident close to hatching. Larvae of both species started hatching at 13 h 30 min after fertilization, and the larval characteristics of both species also showed high levels of similarities. However, the mouth opening time for C. bicolor was 72 h after hatching (AH) and 96 AH for C. bispinosa. In general, the observed early ontogeny of C. bicolor and C. bispinosa also resembled that of other Centropyge species documented in the literature.

The real Nemo movie: Description of embryonic development inAmphiprion ocellarisfrom first division to hatching

“… 11 , 14 , 32 , 36 These well‐defined stages provide a framework for testing hypotheses of homologies within the various processes that occur during the embryonic development of teleost fishes. We observed interesting morphological differences between the embryos of false clownfish and other teleost species, whether they are aquaculture species (the sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax , 34 the turbot Scophtalmus maximus , 37 the batfish Platax teira 38 ), other coral reef fish (the damselfish Neopomacentrus cyanomus , 19 the dottybacks Pseudochromis dilecticus , 17 the mandarinfish Synchiropus splendidus , 39 the goby Elacatinus puncticulatus , 40 several angelfishes of the genus Centropyge 18 , 41 ) or other fish models (the stickleback G aculeatus , the salmonid Coregonus clupeaformis , 12 the gadid Trisopterus luscus , 42 the wrasse Labrus bergylta 43 ). These include the shape of the yolk/chorion, different early chromatophore patterns, and variation in developmental timing.…”

Regional versus latitudinal variation in the life‐history traits and demographic rates of a reef fish, Centropyge bispinosa, in the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef Marine Parks, Australia

“…Compared to other pomacanthids, C. bispinosa had shorter longevity than larger‐bodied Pomacanthus arcuatus from the Florida Keys (maximum age 24 years; Steward et al ., 2009) and Pomacanthus paru sampled from 7 degrees south of the equator (maximum age 27 years; Feitosa et al ., 2017). Despite their popularity, the larviculture of Centropyge has been proven to be difficult (Baensch & Tamaru, 2009; Mendonça et al ., 2019; Olivotto et al ., 2006), and the collection of wild individuals still dominates the aquarium trade. The extended longevities characteristic of pomacanthids is also evident in C. bispinosa and suggests slow population turnover and higher vulnerability to overexploitation by aquarium collectors, particularly at high latitudes (Chung & Woo, 1999; Feitosa et al ., 2017; Roberts & Hawkins, 1999).…”

Bicolor angelfish (Centropyge bicolor) provides the first chromosome-level genome of the Pomacanthidae family

“…As a member of the Pomacanthidae family, it is similar to those of the Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes) but is distinguished by the presence of strong preopercle spines. C. bicolor has clear boundaries between its body colors, so might be a good model in which to study body color development in coral fish [1] .…”