Angelfish Workin' All the Angles

This poor fella hails from the Essequibo River in the South American tropics of Guyana, but these days he’s putting in his hours in the giant aquarium at the back of Ronny Bock’s Fish Dock & Pet Emporium on Pico Boulevard.

It’s tough for a tropical freshwater angelfish to find work, especially when you’re easily mistaken for a saltwater marine angelfish, let alone a butterflyfish, a waterfall-climbing cave fish, or some other random cichlid. Seems like every day the tidal pools, coral reefs, marineland displays and private aquariums become more densely populated by schools of wetbacks fresh from some distant sea. And most are willing to work for mere crumbs! (Usually of dried salmon meal, krill cake, brine shrimp and plankton pieces.)

So what else can this enterprising Pterophyllum do, but put his nicely developed dorsal fin to good use? Through the judicious application of just the right sort of non-allergenic waterproof paint, he’s been able to convert that dormant dorsal into direct advertising! Nice way to get noticed!

(I understand he even has some local electric eels interested in collaborating on a full-color LED board with multiple sequenced ads.)