Angelfish is one of the universally conserved freshwater aquarium fish, also the generally kept cichlid. Its beauty lies in its spectacular fins and impresses many with its strips of various colors. These stripes are constantly maintained by width and space as the fish grows. Iridescent blues and greens in the middle and tiger-like black stripes are the few spices of angelfish. Some have a more orange color that resembles a sunrise on their body. These stripes get a variety of colors due to pigmentation or due to interactions of light with various compounds. The collective effects are truly outstanding.
There are many fascinating observations about the striped patterns of angelfish. The bars on them look like zebra and silver with a number of patterns and shapes. These stripes vary in intensity and sometimes completely fade in the blink of an eye.
Once we get into the details of these patterns and study the subcellular terminology, we can see that streak fading occurs due to angelfish tegumentary cells. The dermis and epidermis are the two layers of fish skin. In the dermis, the pigment contains skin cells called chromatophores that help in the development of scales within the fish. It is the deepest layer of the scales and has the attributes of reflective cells of light called iridophores. These produce iridescence in fish and in combination with chromatophores produce a variety of colors on the fish’s skin. For example, melanophores restrict the brownish-black tincture called melanin, which is responsible for dark color patterns on the fish’s body. It also has the quality of disappearing with specific movements of the melanosomes within each pigment cell.
The stress level in the fish promotes changing the intensity in the patterns on a larger scale. Distinct, dark stripes are found in a calm fish and when the same fish is exposed to bright light, this indirectly causes some stress on the fish and fades the stripes. This tells us about the sympathetic nervous system control system in your body.
The main reason here is that the distribution of melanosomes along the melanophores makes the dark pigmentation disappear and the intensity of the streaks diminish. This also results in the change in size and shape of an angelfish.
These pattern intensity changes occur due to a natural phenomenon within an angel and are temporarily observed. On the contrary, the discolored shade in the stripes of the fish also appears due to any weakness or unsanitary conditions that arise due to an uncomfortable environment or suffering from some disease. However, this can result in a permanent fading of the stripe pattern on the fish.
Hope this helps today’s angelfish breeders improve their skills to keep them properly. Remember, an angelfish when you feel safe and healthy will lower your stress levels. This can be achieved by placing them in aquariums that have dark backgrounds, or one with fewer light sources and good decorations.