angelfish

Any of a number of unrelated fishes. The freshwater angelfish, genus Pterophyllum, of South America, is a tall, side-to-side flattened fish with a striped body, up to 26 cm/10 in long, but usually smaller in captivity. The angelfish or monkfish of the genus Squatina is a bottom-living shark up to 1.8 m/6 ft long with a body flattened from top to bottom. The marine angelfishes, Pomacanthus and others, are long narrow-bodied fish with spiny fins, often brilliantly coloured, up to 60 cm/2 ft long, living around coral reefs in the tropics.