Bony fish · Perciformes · Monodactylidae

Silver Moony

Monodactylus argenteus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Monodactylus argenteus, known in Spanish as pez luna de plata, mono argentus, ángel malayo or ángel de mar, is a perciform fish normally found in the Red Sea and off the coasts of East Africa, as well as south to New Caledonia and Australia.

Size

15 cm – 27 cm

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

OceanOmnivore Colonial Fish Ocean

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Fun facts

The juveniles grow up in almost fresh water inside the mangroves, and the adults move out into coastal seawater.
Its almost circular outline and mirror-silver colour make it practically invisible from below among the reflections of the surface.
It is truly euryhaline: juveniles live in the almost fresh stretches of rivers and adults move out to sea, crossing the full salinity gradient of an estuary.
Its body is rhomboidal and strongly compressed, silvery with two dark bands crossing the head and eye, a pattern that breaks up its outline and throws predators off.
It forms large schools among mangrove roots, where it finds shelter and food.
It is common in the aquarium hobby, but it needs brackish water to thrive and does not do well in fresh water in the long term, something that is frequently overlooked.