Angel ID please

[RBU1]

I was told this is a Hybrid between a blue and a queen.....Now today after talking to a store owner who told me its a blue, I need some more opinions.....
What type of angel is this?????

 

[copps]

100% Holacanthus bermudensis/ H. ciliaris hybrid... a very common fish... also known as a Townsend's angel... originally described as Holacanthus townsendi before being realized as a hybrid...

Copps

 

[RBU1]

Thanks John. What gives it away. The store owner was positive my pic was a blue.

 

[copps]

Keep in mind these are not all 50/50 hybrids... these two species originally most likely had separate nonoverlapping ranges... it's believed that the blues were a coastal fish in murkier waters and the queens were offshore... now in Florida the ranges overlap and they've been breeding together for thousands of years... the fish you show is mostly blue genes (pun intended ), but the visible crown clearly shows previous input from queens... there was an excellent scientific paper written on this back in the day that looked at this... the hybrids are amazingly common and make up (I believe) about 15% of the population... Do you have a closer shot of the eye?

 

[AngelAddict]

Wow john, this is exactly what I thought! I didn't want to say it and get in another long discussion with Jeremy about it though! My point has been proven

 

[RBU1]

John its hard for me to get any closer....I am only using a camera phone. So the giveaway is the crown on the head. Blue angels don't have the crown, I guess....