Coral Beauty Angelfish Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Small, oval-bodied dwarf angelfish growing to about 4 inches (10 cm)
• Deep purple to blue base color across the body
• Orange-yellow highlighting concentrated on the upper body, face, and fin edges, fading toward the rear flanks
• Faint, thin vertical striping visible on some individuals, especially toward the tail
• Blue ring around the eye
• Rounded tail and fins without long trailing points
• Overall coloring can vary noticeably between individuals and locations, ranging from mostly purple to strongly orange

Common look-alikes

• Flame Angelfish: also colorful, but is dominated by solid red-orange with distinct black bars rather than a purple-blue body brushed with orange
• Bicolor Angelfish: shows a sharply divided yellow-front, blue-rear body instead of the blended purple-to-orange wash of the Coral Beauty
• Multicolor Angelfish: has a similar blended palette but adds a bright yellow band across the tail base that the Coral Beauty lacks

Where you'll see one

Coral Beauty Angelfish are widespread across the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to the central Pacific, inhabiting shallow lagoon and outer reef areas with abundant rubble and coral cover where they graze on algae and low-lying invertebrates.