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True Percula ID, Ocellaris comp. 11/25/08 Hello crew, Shea here. <Hello Shea.> I have a question about my false Percula Clownfish (or so I thought). I can't get a good picture of him or her but it is about 2" long, a red-orange color, with bold black borders around the white stripes. I am fairly certain that it is a True Percula that got mislabeled at my LFS. I want to get a mate for it but I am unsure of what kind to get now. If I buy a True Percula and it turns out to be false, will they get along and pair up? <There should be no compatibility issues whether you get a True Percula or false.> Thank you, <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> Shea Re: True Percula ID... actually comp. 12/1/08 Thank you for the response James. <You're welcome.> I went out and purchased a false Percula because I counted 11 spines on my original one. They paired up immediately. My problem now is that the male (new one) keeps harassing my Blue Spot Jawfish. Tonight he bit his tail and took a good sized chunk out of his fin!! Is this typical in male clowns? Will this initial aggression subside? <How did you determine it was a male? Anyway, there will more than likely be a few skirmishes but it should subside. I'm guessing the Jawfish has his burrow set up near the clownfish's territory. You didn't mention the size of your tank so I'm thinking it is under 55 gallons and confined space can add to this aggression. Sometimes rearranging the rock will/can help in this matter.> Thanks, <You're welcome. James (Salty Dog)> Shea
Identifying Gender of Cinnamon Clownfish 12/11/07 Is there a way to figure out the sex of a clownfish, my clownfish is around 2 years old, I just got him an anemone around 3 months ago and it has grown significantly (about 1-2 cm). Is this a sign that it turned into a female, or could it be that it is just eating more? -- Maria del Mar Alvarez Rohena <Mmm, both... A clown of this size, age is likely a female. Cheers, Bob Fenner> Clownfish <ID mostly> and stocking questions. Reading 9/23/07 Hi, I've had my tank since June and currently only have one fish, a Firefish. The tank is 37gallons, <Mmm, are really social animals... and need more room...> Sumpless and skimmerless. I'm planning on getting a midas blenny, a pair of clowns, and maybe a royal Gramma. <Trouble here... likely the Gramma, blenny and Dartfish will not happily coexist> I will also have corals. <... what species?> I think I am going to get a pair of sebae clowns, and I'm wondering how you tell them apart from clarkii clowns. <Good question... not easily discerned, but gone over on WWM, fishbase.org...> I haven't found any information on this, only that Sebaes have more black, but it also said there are many color variations. So is there any way to tell them apart that will always work? <It's likely safe to state that it is VERY unlikely you'll find "true" Sebae clowns...> I also have a few other random questions... I have relatively low lighting, 130 watts of PCs. Could I have toadstool mushrooms and Zoanthids with that lighting? <... you should read re these groups of Cnidarians... they're too toxic for your use in this small volume IMO> Those are my two favorite corals. <... and they're not "corals"...> And do feather dusters need any light? I'm thinking about getting a few of them and putting them on the bottom, if they won't be affected by the low light they would get there. What should I feed them and how often? Thanks for the help. <Read on my friend... the indices, search tool... BobF> Clown fish - pairing, ID 5/17/07 Hi there: <Neil> Well after several days trawling through all your informative advice I have been unable to find an answer to my question, probably due to my now tired eyes!! <I hear, read you> I have recently set up a new marine tank and have finally purchase my first 2 fish, clown fish. It is only when getting them both home that I think I may have one true and one false clown fish. They have identical markings except that one has much thicker black lines on the edges of all its fins, whereas the other one has very thin black lines around the fins. <Mmm...> Not that I am in the position to, nor will I be for several months to begin breeding, I was wondering if the true and false clown are capable of breeding together?? <Can in some instances, but... you likely have two A. perculas... they do have variable dark markings... which A. ocellaris lacks entirely> Thanking you in advance. Neil Rennie <Welcome! Bob Fenner>
True or False? Clown ID/Selection 2/2/07 Hello, <Good
evening, Nick. GrahamT with you tonight.> Thank you in advance for
your help, it is much appreciated! <Don't mention it, I enjoy
what time I can devote to helping.> I have a 55gal. tank that housed
a pair of clowns as well as a few other fish. Well, the other day I
noticed the female was missing. <Mmmm... missing? Like APB?> Her
therapy must not have been going so well <LOL> as she decided to
jump, landing in my bucket of top off water sitting next to the tank.
<Oh, man! At least you can appreciate her sense of self-preservation
in finding the only source of water to land in... but maybe not.> I
guess you could say she got the ultimate "freshwater dip"!
<I could, but you already did!> I was quite upset because she was
a really beautiful fish. <I'm truly sorry, Nick.> Now I am
wanting to add another clown for my remaining male but I am not sure
whether my clown is a true or false Perc. <Am sure there are some
posts here on WWM on the differences, regarding number of spines/rays
in anterior dorsal fin, thickness of border on bars, etc.> I have
attached an image contained in a word doc. (about 763KB). <Got it,
but the color and detail is hard to make out. Recommend you use a
program like paint shop pro (jasc.com) or the like for the processing,
and save as a .JPG. (I have edited it to boost the colors and
brightness and saved as a .JPG) It is still hard to say, since I'm
not sure if I got it closer to actual, but if so, I would say this is
an Ocellaris clown (Amphiprion ocellaris).> I tried to compress the
file but couldn't figure out how to do it. If you need me to resend
it let me know. <Why don't you try to send another picture in
JPG-format?> Also, the little guy doesn't stay still, so it may
be a little blurry. If you can tell from the pic what kind of clown he
is I would greatly appreciate it. <Guessing, but looks like an A.
ocellaris based on the (seemingly) bright color and thin border. I
would say I am only 60% sure of that, though.> Also, I am planning
on adding a black and white clown this time for some diversity. From
reading in your archives I concluded that since he is a male, it really
shouldn't matter what size the new fish is.... Am I right here?
<Depends on how long you keep the little guy alone. Clowns are
hermaphroditic, and can change sex as appropriate for their
environment/needs. I would try to get a similar-sized clown.> Thanks
so much for your help! <Mmm, thank me later. Send some more pix!
-GrahamT>
"Black Percula"? identification 12/15/05 Hello WWM crew, My wife and I have been trying to get a black percula clown for our 75 gallon fish tank. We have ordered them from our favorite LFS, and after 4 months finally get a call saying that they had received some. We went and looked at them we found that they look like perculas more than the other clowns I have commonly seen, but there are some differences. One, the middle white band slants towards the tail at the top of the fish. Second, the pectoral fins are yellow at the ends. Third, the third white stripe by the tail extents a little around the edge of the top and bottom of the tail fin. Another thing is that their faces are a pale yellowish white. <These are almost certainly Amphiprion ocellaris, the "False Percula" and the fish most commonly sold as a Black Percula. It's a popular color morph being very heavily produced by the captive breeders.> Looking at the clownfish identification on your site, the pattern of the white stripes resembles *Amphiprion chrysogaster*, but they do not have the yellowish orange belly. They also resemble the black and white pictures of *Amphiprion polymnus*, but most of the rest of the pictures of the saddleback clown I have seen only really have two white bands, with the middle one not going all the way down to the belly. <The captive-produced Clownfishes exhibit all sorts of variations in banding and coloration, and in some cases facial structure. Some folks feel it's unfortunate that these are not 'culled'. In any case, choose carefully. What you see is what you will get.> I will have to try to get a picture of them, but from the description what does it sound like these clownfish are? Are they possibly perculas like the LFS supplies sent them as? <Almost certainly they are captive bred ocellaris, a perfectly good aquarium fish.> <<Yes to being ocellaris... are naturally occurring color morphs... from Shark Bay in Australia originally if memory serves. RMF>> Thank you again for your help. You guys are awesome. <Cheerio! Zo> Andrew Searching for a Clownfish <?> 7/20/05 Hi Bob, <Amy> I'm wondering if you can solve a mystery for me. I grew up in Townsville, with frequent holidays to Port Douglas. <Ah, yes... is this about "hanging rock?"...> Both my parents dive, as do most of my adult relatives. I seem to remember (quite vividly) a fish, bright blue, with bright yellow markings (not outlined). Basically, it looked like a common clownfish except instead of orange, blue. And yellow stripes instead of white. Now, my problem is, I've been searching for a picture of this fish for 2 years (not constantly, but still.) I thought I would have found it by now. I can't find anything like it in internet searches and I'm starting to doubt it exists. My question is, do you know of a blue and yellow clownfish, or is it a different fish altogether that just looks like a clownfish? In case it helps, the fish in question was in a display tank in a shop window at the Port Douglas wharf. I hope very much you can help me in regards to this, Amy Gibson <Mmm, nothing comes to mind... bright blue bodied with said stripes? Perhaps a damsel species of another sort. Not a Clownfish. Bob Fenner> - Yellow Percula Clownfish - Salutations! <And good day to you.> I have recently obtained two juvenile A. percula clownfish. One has a bright orange body and the other has a bright yellow body. Is a yellow body common among the species? <I've never seen one... sounds very attractive.> Is it likely to turn orange with age or remain yellow? <I'd expect it to slowly turn orange, but mutations do happen so perhaps it will stay yellow and unique.> Both are beautiful and the color variation makes it easy for me to tell them apart. :) <Certainly.> Thank you, Lindsay <Cheers, J -- > Clown Fish of a different colour G'day Bob,
<Michael> Twenty years ago I was scuba diving in a remote part of
Vanuatu and came across an anemone with a group of about six clownfish,
one larger and the others smaller. What was striking about these is
their main colour was a dark royal blue, their black bands were similar
to other clown fish I have seen in books and diving but the colouration
I have not seen since ( I cannot recall for certain, but I think they
also had a VERY fine band of white along each side of the band,
separating the dark blue from the black). Unfortunately I did not have
a camera with me at the time to document, the larger fish was quite
aggressive with the smaller ones keeping very close to the host
anemone. Have you seen these type before? <May be a variant of
Amphiprion polymnus... take a look/see on WWM, Google Images,
fishbase.org re the species... click on the pic and look at all
they've got posted... Did the fish's stripes look like this?
This is the only species I've seen (that's described...) that
has a bluish body in places. Bob Fenner> Michael Clownfish and Anemone care 2/28/05 Hi, Which Clown has the dark patches on it the Amphiprion ocellaris or the Amphiprion percula? <The "true" percula clownfish, A. percula, generally has a lot more (wider) black color/bands> Also what is the minimal lighting requirements for a healthy BTA? <5 watts per gallon of water at 6500-10k K lamp color over less than 24" of water would be a safe and healthy minimum light scheme for Entacmaea quadricolor. kindly, Anthony> Clownfish question At LiveAquaria.com, is the Sebae clownfish they sell really Sebae or is it Clarkii? <Hello Jahner. I would contact LiveAquaria.com and ask them this question. I have no way of knowing without contacting them myself. James (Salty Dog)> Jahner <<To toss in my dos centavos: Actual Amphiprion Sebae clowns are extremely rare in the trade... 99 plus % of those sold as such are Clarkii's... I have hundreds of pix of this very wide-spread species, but none (!) of the Sebae... RMF>> Sexing clownfish how to tell a male from a female. <The females are usually much larger than the males. Most people recommend getting two of the same size and letting the one change to female. Take a look at this http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clownfis.htm Good luck, MacL>
Clown With Strange Stripe? Hi <Hi there! Scott F. here today!> I've just added 2 new clowns to my tank. One of the clowns appears to have a white strip around its mouth-almost like another stripe. It doesn't seem to be affecting it now but I'm worried it may develop into something sinister. Its not a single spot but a definite line. The water quality is fine, done all testing. Any ideas? Cheers Belinda <Well, Belinda- it could be anything from a color variation to an injury, or even an external parasitic infection. However, I would not rush to the conclusion that there is a problem of any sort. Keep observing the fish carefully, provide excellent water conditions, good food, and stability, and be prepared to take action if necessary. In the absence of other "standard" disease symptoms (difficulty in breathing, lack of appetite, external symptoms, like spots or mucus), I'd just keep an eye on the fish. Regards, Scott F.> Grouping of A. nigripes Hi Bob, <Phil> I was checking your website the other day and noticed on one page (I can't find it again to let you know which one) you had the clownfish species listed into their complexes. <Here: http://wetwebmedia.com/clownfis.htm> I noticed (at least on this page) that you had grouped A. nigripes into the "tomato" clown complex rather than in the "skunk" clown complex. <Yes, on the basis of the solid color other than the white head vertical band> After having a pair myself for a short period of time and seeing a few at wholesalers, I began to think that they looked very much like a pale A. melanopus rather that any of the skunk clowns. Is there new literature that puts A. nigripes in the tomato complex or is having them there something that made more sense to you. Thanks for your help, Phil Henderson <If memory serves (less and less), I "borrowed" this classification scheme from Daphne Fautin and/or Gerald Allen. And I think... it's something of a "convenient taxonomy"... an artificial assemblage that serves to "key" or segregate the Amphiprionines for ease of identification only. Bob Fenner> Funky Striped Clown >Crew, >>Person... >I just got this new (false percula) clownfish and it has a strange stripe. On one side the stripe doesn't connect; it's like two half stripes with orange in the middle. >>Likely a captive bred and raised specimen. Good on YOU and the shop that carries them! This change in coloration has been seen in many animals; horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and even foxes many decades ago when captive breeding was attempted. The foxes developed white tips on their tails that is entirely unwanted, and no solution was ever found. This is why foxes must be trapped from the wild even today. >The clownfish seems healthy and everything, I was just wondering if this is normal, or if I have some cool one-of-a-kind fish. >>No, more and more common with all captive-bred Clownfishes. >I've looked at tons of pictures of clownfish trying to find a fish with similar markings, but so far I haven't seen any. >>The variabilities are, well, variable! Your fish is fine, but always unique, just like you. Marina Maroon...Tomato....Marato? Hi all! I just love this website. My tank is 6 months old. Its an 18 gallon with some live rock, three crabs, an anemone, and a clownfish. When I bought the clownfish my LFS said he was a maroon, and since he was a baby he looked like a normal maroon with 3 strips. As he's grown he's lost the last 2 strips and has turned black like a tomato clown. Basically I'm wondering if maroons can lose their strips or if tomato's can be mistaken for maroons? If in fact my "Nemo" fish is a tomato, what is their temperament compared to the maroon. Can I put other fish with him? I've looked around the site a bit, but theirs not a whole lot on tomato clowns that I found. Thanks. Amy <Mmm, no... a Tomato is a... excuse me, Maroon's do change "their stripes" and color quite a bit at times... mostly keyed with change in sex (turning into females)... Yours has the prominent "cheek spine" still I take it? It's a Premnas (biaculeatus). Bob Fenner> Re: Maroon...Tomato....Marato? No actually it doesn't have the cheek spine...unless its so small I can't actually see it. But he or she is about 2 inches long now. So if he/she doesn't have the cheek spine, did my LFS lie to me? <Mmm, can't say from here. Do take a look on fishbase.org (click on the pix shown after looking up the species by common or scientific name)... the spines are very small when the fish are small. Bob Fenner> Clown of A Different Color? Hi, <Hi there! Scott F. with you today!> I purchased two juvenile percula clowns via mail order. I have had them 1 week. They are brightly colored, very active, and eating normally. I noticed the day after they arrived that one of them has a small round white area in the middle of the top fin. It is not a lesion , nor does it look like a grain of salt or a bump, or any of the other commonly described diseases. It looks like its internal (under the skin). It almost looks like a color variation. Does this occur with percula clowns? There has been no change to the spot or in the behavior of either fish for the entire week. Any thoughts? Thanks, Laurie <Well, Laurie, it is entirely possible that this is simply a random genetic color variation. Many of the clownfish sold in the hobby are captive-bred, and such "sports" or "anomalies" do happen from time to time. As long as your a convinced of the health of the fish, It should be fine. I would not, however, allow a fish with such a color anomaly to breed, so that the "integrity" of the species' gene pool is maintained. Enjoy! Regards, Scott F.>
Tiny Little Baby Clowns >Yesterday I bought a pair of tank raised percula clownfish. They are just tiny little babies. Right now they have one white stripe and the rest of there bodies are orange. I am wondering if they will gain more stripes as they mature. >>Yes, they should. However, know that tank raised clowns tend to show anomalous striping (rather as what happened when we began to domesticate foxes for the fur trade - we discovered that if we wanted the fine fur of a wild fox they had to remain wild. For some reason breeding domestically produced foxes with white patches!) >Thanks for the help again. Scott >>You're welcome for the first time from me, Marina.
Amphiprion chrysogaster pix Do you need some photo's of this? I have some in my collection. Regards, <Could use a decent pic (or two). Please do send along and we'll post with credit to you. Thank you, Bob Fenner> Christopher Waters
Thielleii manuscript Bob, I forgot that I had this saved on a disc. If you can't open and read this attachment, let me know and I'll fax it tomorrow. Mike <Got it... as "pix" of a manuscript by WEB. Will read through on the way back on Monday. Be chatting. Bob Fenner> <Am back, and read through the Burgess paper you sent along (a draft of the work that went into his description of this "species" back in 1981). And I see fishbase.org relate this as a species: http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?id=11847 based on two specimens supposedly from Cebu, PI... But Fernando Nosratpour of the Birch Aquarium (San Diego) has "reproduced this hybrid"... and Wilkerson (1998) and Fautin and Allen (1997) list it as a likely hybrid... Mike, has their been a further collection of this "species" since the two in the NJ store were found? Bob Fenner>
True Sebae Clowns <Anthony Calfo in your service> Hello! How rare are sebae clowns really? <less common but not rare by any stretch of the imagination. They should not cost much more than a comparable Clarkii> I went to FishBase but hey had no pics. My LFS has some in and I am sure they are sebae because they are reputable and sell Clarkiis separate from true Sebaes. Is it worth it to buy them? I don't have a price on them yet, but I will call soon to ask. <some wild caught color morphs are quite striking! Good luck, Anthony> Odd Clownfish Ok Steven. If it may be an abnormality, and I know that the second bar disappears with age, so would any of the three stripes remain? <Hard to say. My best guess is that the stripe directly behind the eye will remain and the others fade.> I also kind of doubt it is a tomato as the body is more elongate than a tomato. I might get it if it's a kind of clown not frequently imported, or if it's just an oddball tomato. <There are three fairly similar clownfish that are commonly available to the trade. 1)Tomato A. frenatus, 2) Cinnamon A. melanopus, and 3) Red Saddle Back A. ephippium If the LFS had it labeled as a tomato and it is captive bred, it probably is just an anomaly of captive breeding.> Cool Clown Hello once again Anthony. <You actually caught me (Steven Pro) on my shift.> I have a question about a tomato clown. You see, the LFS had one that was a juvenile, but it didn't have one bar, or two bars, but three. Is this normal? <Probably a product of captive breeding programs. Tomato clownfish usually have a second bar as juveniles that fades as they grow.> I am definitely sure it isn't a maroon because maroons have a distinctive head and body shape. Know of any other clown this could be? It was bright red. Mistaken identity? (Clownfish identification) Hi. I purchased
two supposedly maroon clowns 2 months ago. The larger one (about 3
inches) is dark maroon and I have no doubt it is indeed a maroon clown.
However, the smaller one (about 1 inches) is more of a dark orange than
maroon. My LFS owner told me it is a male maroon clown, but
unfortunately I don't trust he knows enough. The following are
reasons why I question if my smaller fish is a maroon: 1) he does not
have a spine at his cheek like the bigger one which maroon clowns
supposed to have right? <Yes, maroons must have a spine on their
cheek. It starts below and slightly behind the eye and proceeds
horizontally past the gills.> 2) its been two months and the bigger
maroon is still attacking the smaller one. <Not unusual with this
highly aggressive species even if they are the same.> 3) he
doesn't look maroon but dark orange. <Your dealer is right about
juveniles/males being brighter/lighter in color.> Can you please
help me determine what kind of clown fish is my smaller? <Take a
look here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clownfis.htm> And if he is not
a maroon clown, should I remove him from the tank? <If he is not a
maroon or if the aggression does not subside, remove the smaller
one.> Thanks, Karl
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