The goldtail angelfish shows more similarities between the adults and the juveniles than most other marine angelfishes in the genus Pomacanthus. The juveniles have blackish-brown bodies marked with many white vertical bars. The face is paler, more orangey than the body and is marked with uneven blue lines. They have a yellow caudal fin which develops a white bar on the caudal peduncle when the fish reaches around 4 cm (1.6 in) in length. Both juveniles and adults have a black spot on the upper anterior portion of the body. The adults are similar to the juveniles, the differences being that they have a dark face and no white bar on the caudal peduncle. The dorsal fin has 13–14 spines and 17–19 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 18–19 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of 33 cm (13 in). The goldtail angelfish is found in the western Indian Ocean from the Gulf of Aden south along the coast of Eastern Africa as far as KwaZulu Natal. Its range includes Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and the Seychelles.
