As shared recently by reef2rainforest, well-known Indonesian marine breeder Bali Aquarich has showcased a number of rare captive-bred hybrid dwarf angelfishes.
The first of these are two Centropyge bispinosa x C. multicolor, or in other words Coral Beauty x multicolor. Still just juveniles at this stage, it’s clear to see the traits of both parent species, with the individuals appearing either as a deeply orange hued multicolor angel, or a stripeless yellow tailed coral beauty, depending on how you want to see it! Wild specimens of this hybrid have been collected before, showing a mix of the colouration from the parental species, but they are very rare.
On the subject of wild specimens, the second hybrid is one that doesn’t occur naturally at all due to the ranges of species in question. The Centropyge joculator x multicolor specimen is very similar to a true blood joculator, but exhibits the slight paleness of a multicolor and hints of the dark crown of that species also.
Given the rarity of these fish we can’t be sure that they will become commercially available now or even in larger numbers in the future. It’s fascinating to see the results of such hybridisation though.
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