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>
-Nick

"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

Re: Clown Fish of a different colour
G'day again Bob,
<Michael>
Thanks for your prompt reply. Your site is a great resource for all who are interested in fish.
<Welcome>
I have gone through the picture database on WWM, Google Images and Fishbase and have not seen anything of even remotely similar colouration. The patterning of the fish I saw were similar to the Fishbase picture of A. percula (that is the main pic). Difference being that the fine black stripe on this was white, the orange areas were Dark Royal blue and the white areas were black.
<Mmm, interesting. Have you tried your question with Dr. Gerald Allen or Dr. Jack Randall? Pix would really be helpful... but they are the very best folks to query here>
As I said this was in a remote area of Vanuatu, which was rarely visited by outsiders, so it may be that this has not been described at this point. Oh for a camera when you want one!!!
Michael
<Heee! Or in my case, oh for a camera, skill to use it, clear water, cooperative subjects... Bob Fenner, out filming, diving in Hawai'i>

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>