Clownfish

Clownfish
Ocellaris Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Pomacentridae
Subfamily:	Amphiprioninae
Genera
Amphiprion Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Premnas (Bloch, 1790)

The clownfish, or anemonefish Amphiprioninae of the family Pomacentridae. To date, 28 species have been described, of which one is in the genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. In the wild they all form symbiotic relationships with sea anemones. Depending on exact species, clownfishes are overall yellow, orange, reddish or blackish, and many show white bars or patches. The largest species reach a length of 18 cm (7 in), while the smallest barely reach 10 cm (4 in). .

Ecology and life history

Native to wide ranges of the warm waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea. While most species have relatively restricted distributions, others are widespread and overlap widely with relatives. Clownfish are not found in the Atlantic Ocean. Clownfish live in a mutual relationship with sea anemones, with most being highly host specific, and especially the genera Heteractis, Stichodactyla and Entacmaea are frequent partners. The clownfish feeds on undigested matter which otherwise potentially could harm the sea anemone. In addition to providing food for the clownfish, the sea anemone also provides safety due to its poison.

Clownfish and certain damselfish are the only species of fishes that can avoid the potent poison of a sea anemone. There are several theories about how this is accomplished:

• The mucous coating of the fish may be based on sugars rather than proteins. This would mean that anemones fail to recognize the fish as a potential food source and do not fire their nematocysts, or sting organelles.

• they pray oncats that they think will look good in their stomachs. if you dont believa me then ooo well.

• The co-evolution of certain species of clownfish with specific anemone host species and may have acquired an immunity to the nematocysts and toxins of their host anemone. In situ experimentation has shown that Amphiprion percula may develop resistance to the toxin from Heteractis magnifica, but it is not totally protected, since it was shown experimentally to die when its skin, devoid of mucus, was exposed to the nematocysts of its host

Clownfish live in small groups inhabting a single anemone each. Most always a breeding pair, consisting of a single mating female and one mating male, cohabit with a few non-mating smaller male fish. When the dominant female dies, the dominant male changes sex and becomes the female. They exhibit a sexual life style known as sequential hermaphroditism, and specifically the protandrous form where they begin as males and can later in life switch to using functioning female gonads.

Clownfish lay eggs on any flat surface close to or under the protection of their host anemones. In the wild, clownfish spawn around the time of the full moon and the male parent guards them until they hatch about 6 to 10 days later, typically 2 hours after darkness starts. Clownfish are omnivorous: in the wild they eat live food such as algae, plankton, molluscs and crustacea; in captivity they can survive on live meat, fish flakes and fish pellets. They feed mostly on copepods and mysids, and the undigested excrement from their host anemones.

In the aquarium

A clownfish swimming.

Clownfish are a very popular fish for a reef aquarium. Clownfish are now tank-bred to lower the number taken from the wild. Compared to wild-caught clownfish, tank-bred clownfish are slightly more disease resistant and also less affected by stress when introduced to the aquarium.

When a sea anemone is not available in an aquarium, they may settle in some varieties of soft corals, or large polyp stony corals. If the fish settles in a coral, it could agitate the fish's skin, and, in some cases, may kill the coral. Once an anemone or coral has been adopted, the clownfish will defend it. As there is less pressure to forage for food in an aquarium, it is common for clownfish to remain within 15-25 cm (6-12 in) of their host for an entire lifetime.

Species

• Genus Amphiprion:
  • Amphiprion akallopisos - Skunk clownfish
  • Amphiprion akindynos - Barrier reef anemonefish
  • Amphiprion allardi - Twobar anemonefish
  • Amphiprion bicinctus - Twoband anemonefish
  • Amphiprion chagosensis - Chagos anemonefish
  • Amphiprion chrysogaster - Mauritian anemonefish
  • Amphiprion chrysopterus - Orange-fin anemonefish
  • Amphiprion clarkii - Yellowtail clownfish
  • Amphiprion ephippium - Saddle anemonefish
  • Amphiprion frenatus - Tomato clownfish
  • Amphiprion fuscocaudatus - Seychelles anemonefish
  • Amphiprion latezonatus - Wide-band Anemonefish
  • Amphiprion latifasciatus - Madagascar anemonefish
  • Amphiprion leucokranos - Whitebonnet anemonefish
  • Amphiprion mccullochi - Whitesnout anemonefish
  • Amphiprion melanopus - Fire clownfish
  • Amphiprion nigripes - Maldive anemonefish
  • Amphiprion ocellaris - Clown anemonefish
  • Amphiprion omanensis - Oman anemonefish
  • Amphiprion percula - Orange clownfish
  • Amphiprion perideraion - Pink skunk clownfish
  • Amphiprion polymnus - Saddleback clownfish
  • Amphiprion rubacinctus - Red Anemonefish
  • Amphiprion sandaracinos - Yellow clownfish
  • Amphiprion sebae - Sebae anemonefish
  • Amphiprion thiellei - Thielle's anemonefish
  • Amphiprion tricinctus - Three-band anemonefish
• Genus Premnas:
  • Premnas biaculeatus - Maroon clownfish

• 
  Sebae anemonefish (Amphiprion sebae) and sea anemone in the Maldives.
• 
  Tomato clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus) and sea anemone in Fiji.
• 
  Maldive anemonefish (Amphiprion nigripes). It is sometimes called the Black-finned anemonefish due to its black pelvic and anal fins.
• 
  Pink skunk clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion).
• 
  Saddleback clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus) off Sulawesi, Indonesia.
• 
  Yellow clownfish (Amphiprion sandaracinos) and sea anemone off Sulawesi, Indonesia.
• 
  Yellowtail clownfish (Amphiprion clarkii) with sea anemone.
• 
  Orange-fin anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysopterus) is one of the few anemonefishes with a white tail.
• 
  Twoband anemonefish (Amphiprion bicinctus). It is, as suggested by its alternative common name, Red Sea clownfish, almost entirely restricted to the Red Sea.
• Clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) occurs in a 'normal' orange and a melanistic blackish variant. The exact taxonomic status of the latter is unclear.
  Clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) occurs in a 'normal' orange and a melanistic blackish variant. The exact taxonomic status of the latter is unclear.
• 
  Fire clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus) and sea anemone at the Great Barrier Reef.
• 
  Maroon clownfish (Premnas biaculeatus), here with a tang, is the only member of the genus Premnas, and the largest species of clownfish.

External links

• Template:De icon Photo Gallery of Amphiprion ocellaris and their eggs