This picture shows an emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator: 30 cms.) amongst soft and hard coral on a near vertical wall. It is encountered commonly in the Indian and Pacific Oceans - including the Red Sea. Its brilliantly coloured pattern makes it a favourite subject for underwater photographers. It feeds mainly on sponges, algae and small invertebrates. The species exhibits the interesting phenomenon of ontogenetic colour and pattern change, in that the juvenile stage has a completely different, if equally striking, pattern of blue and white rings. Photographed in the Egyptian Red Sea.

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Size: 2039px × 1453px
Location: Shark Reef, Ras Mohammed, near Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, angelfish, colourful, coral, corals, creation, diving, egypt, emperor, fish, hard, imperator, mohammed, natural, picture, pomacanthus, ras, red, reef, scuba, sea, selection, shark, soft, trd5143, underwater, wall