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21 Angelfish Varieties
by Dave Snyder

Nov-Dec Issue# 18

When I started breeding angelfish 25 or so years ago there weren’t a whole lot of color varieties from which to choose. Silver, Marble, Black, Black Lace, and Blushing were about it. I still remember when Gold Angels were introduced and created quite a sensation.

As color mutations have proliferated, there are now more angelfish varieties than any aquarist can keep at one time. The fish themselves don’t know what color varieties they are and will spawn with any other variety. As new mutations have been introduced into the hobby, opportunities to produce attractive hybrids have proliferated. Below are descriptions of twenty-one of the most popular angelfish color varieties.

Silver: The original “wild type” angel. Silver body, four black vertical stripes, one through the eye and one through the caudal peduncle. Red eye, darker crown and blue/green iridescence on the good ones when mature. Homozygous Silvers are true breeding.

Silver Ghost: A silver angel with no stripes. This fish has one dose blushing, which has the effect of removing the stripes but not removing the silver color from the body. This is sometimes called a “stripeless” gene.

Zebra: Similar to Silver, except has one or more extra stripes. There may also be some speckling on the body. A true mutation that is dominant over Silver.

Marble: Black and white speckled pattern. Co-dominant with Silver, Marbles with one dose of the Marble gene are about 50% marbled, while Marbles with two doses of the Marble gene are about 80% marbled.

Gold Marble: Similar to Gold but with a marbled pattern on its body. In one dose there is very little black; in two doses the amount of black may be 30 -40%. Gold Marble is a true mutation, not just a Marble crossed with a Gold.

Smoky: Silver front half, mottled slate gray rear half of body. Fins are brownish gray and may exhibit a lace pattern. As an adult it has an olive crown with small amounts of blue iridescence in the body and bluish ventral fins. A true mutation that is dominant over Silver. In two doses, it becomes Chocolate.

Chocolate: Dark brownish pattern extending over most of the body, this is a double-dose Smoky. Fins exhibit a lace pattern. The main difference between a Chocolate and a smoky is the pattern is more brown than gray, and it extends over most of the body rather than just the back half.

Chocolate Lace: A beautiful darker fish that is two doses Smoky (Chocolate) and one dose black. The result is a dark Chocolate with black lace in the fins. One of the most beautiful angel varieties.

Gold: A true recessive trait which is masked by any other color gene. As an adult Gold angels develop an orange crown that extends from the tip of the nose to the dorsal fin.

Black: A Black angel can be a hybrid (Black/Gold) or a “double dose” or “double dark” black. The only way you can tell them apart is by examining the varieties of fry that they produce. A gold/black hybrid may be as dark as or darker than a double dark Black. There is a great deal of difference among the different lines of Blacks, with some showing some striping, and others being almost a velvety black. Black angels are more delicate than most other varieties.

Black Lace: Cross between a Silver and a Black. Shows a nice lace pattern on the fins and a large amount of black in the body, with the center of the body showing some silver and the top of the body being almost a velvety black. Black angels are more delicate than most other varieties.

Leopard: A true breeding strain. Leopards look very much like Chocolates, except they have dots on them that show up particularly well as a juvenile. The leopard pattern is very noticeable on the juveniles; as the fish mature the pattern becomes more like a Chocolate. However, some dots always remain, and these fish often exhibit a good deal of blue or purplish iridescence. Many people believe that Leopards are the most beautiful Angel variety.

Koi: This fish has one dose Gold Marble and two doses of blushing. A distinctive characteristic is there is a good deal of orange on the crown. The body of a Koi has irregular patches of orange, with some black color, surrounded by white. A very beautiful but, like most varieties with tow doses of the Blushing gene, a delicate fish. When environmental conditions are not just right, they can lose much of their color.

Black Ghost: Dark silver body with no stripes. The fins have nice lace pattern. Usually it has a large dark spot in front of the tail. This hybrid throws many different varieties of fry in a single batch.

Half Black: The rear portion of this fish is solid black and the front looks just like a Silver. This is a true mutation that is partially environmentally controlled. The fry start out looking jus like Silver and change to Half Black at 30 - 60 days of age. However, not all fry change. Some remain as Silvers but carry the Half Black gene, which means they can produce Half Black fry.

Clown Black: A very attractive hybrid that has one dose Zebra, one dose Black, and one dose Blushing. Adults have a nice lace pattern on the fins, darker coloration on the crown gradually getting lighter as it goes down the body. With several large spots on the body. Fry of a Clown Black pair will be very diverse, including Blushers, Clown Blacks, Zebras, Silver Clowns, Black Blushers, Zebra Clown Blacks, and Zebra Lace.

Silver Clown: Like a Clown Black but without the dose of Black. Another attractive fish that is lighter in color than a Clown Black and produces Blusher, Silver Clown and Zebra.

Chocolate German Blue Blushing: A true breeding strain that is quite beautiful. Exhibiting lots of blue iridescence over a chocolate pattern as an adult.

Turquoise Blushing: This strain shows the most iridescence of any angel variety. On some individuals it is very intense, not so intense on others. This fish is a very dark gray body with black fins. The fry are very delicate.

Albino: A true albino with pink eyes. Albino fry are very small and difficult to raise. Too much light, and they can’t see the food because the light hurts their eyes. Too little light, and they can’t see the food because there is not enough light for their weak eyes. While most angel fry are large enough when free-swimming to eat newly hatched baby brine shrimp, most Albino fry must be fed vinegar eels or microworms for the first few days until they are large enough to eat the shrimp.