The largest angelfish here, and audible: it produces a low thump when alarmed.
To about 46 cm, grey-brown with fine pale speckling, five or six dark vertical bars, a pale head with a dark bar through the eye, and a yellow-spotted rear body. Juveniles are black with vertical white and pale blue bars, similar to the juveniles of other large angelfish in the region; the bar spacing and the shape of the pale bands on the tail separate them.
Adults are usually in pairs and range widely along a slope feeding on sponges and tunicates. Like several large angelfishes they produce a low percussive thump with the swim bladder when startled, which a diver hears as much as feels. It is a wary species and rarely allows a close approach; parallel movement at four or five metres works better than a direct line. Recorded from about 3 to 45 m.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.