🐠 Bandit Angelfish (Apolemichthys arcuatus)
A Bold Black Band Arching Across a Pearly White Body • A True Hawaiian Endemic • A Rare, Prized Deep-Water Specialist
 
📋 The Bandit Angelfish is a striking, endemic Hawaiian species instantly recognisable by its bold black band arching from the mouth across the eye to the rear of the dorsal fin, set against a pearly white body, with matching black-and-white banding on the caudal and anal fins.
Found only around the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll, this species inhabits deep, current-swept rocky reef slopes, ledges, and caves, a cool-water, sponge-rich habitat we work to replicate closely. Its rarity and striking appearance are exactly why this species commands such a significant price in the trade. Every Bandit Angelfish we ship is feeding well on an ongoing sponge-based diet, and we favour younger, more adaptable specimens, which transition to aquarium life more readily than mature adults.
Its natural diet consists almost exclusively of sponges and tunicates, so we maintain a dedicated, ongoing supply of sponge-based angelfish foods for every specimen, and keep it at the cooler temperatures its deep-water habitat calls for. It's reef safe with caution, a specialised sponge eater that carries some risk to sessile invertebrates. It reaches 18-25cm, so plan on at least 450L with extensive mature live rock and a chiller to maintain the right temperature range.
 
💡 Highlights
⚫⚪ Striking Black and White Banding: A bold contrast pattern unlike any other common angelfish
🏝️ A True Hawaiian Endemic: Found only around Hawaii and Johnston Atoll
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: Maintained on an ongoing sponge-based diet
🌡️ A Cool-Water Specialist: Kept at the cooler temperatures its deep-water habitat calls for
💎 Rare and Prized: A a specialist's find