Back in March, we caught wind of a super rare Peppermint Angelfish (Paracentropyge boylei) showing up at the Waikiki Aquarium courtesy of world famous aquarium collector, Richard Pyle. When we first saw this juvenile angel, it was swimming in a sea of PVC fittings in one of the quarantine tanks at the aquarium. Fast forward a couple of months and we’ve finally managed to feast our eyes on some video footage of the peppermint angel swimming around in the reef tank it now calls home. Unfortunately, the video details some potentially scary behavior from the rare angelfish’s tankmates. The large wrasse that shares the living space is a little too aggressive for our comfort, but fortunately the angel’s fins all look to be in good shape and the fish doesn’t appear to be stressed. Despite that, I’d be looking for a way to get that wrasse out of the tank as soon as possible.
Despite the fish’s extreme rarity, the disembodied female voice of a Wakiki Aquarium employee states that another P. boylei is “coming in”, though she doesn’t know exactly when that will happen. Fortunately with the power of the internet, I’m sure we’ll know shortly after it arrives.
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