Clownfish

Information about Clownfish

Clownfish
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Ocellaris Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris

Ocellaris Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Perciformes
Family:Pomacentridae
Subfamily:Amphiprioninae
Genus:Amphiprion
Genus:Premnas
Species
See text.
The clownfish, or anemonefish, are the subfamily Amphiprioninae of the family Pomacentridae. Currently 27 species exist, of which one is in the genus Premnas and the rest are in the subfamily's type genus Amphiprion. The other pomacentrids are called damselfish.

Ecology and life history

Habitat

Native to wide ranges of the warm waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans; some species ranges overlap others. Clownfish are not found in the Atlantic Ocean. Clownfish live in a mutual relationship with sea anemones, or in some cases settle in some varieties of soft corals, or large polyp stony corals when an anemone is not available in an aquarium. 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.

The anemone is required in nature because reef life is dangerous for small, brightly coloured fish; in an aquarium lacking predators it is not needed. For this reason, clownfish never stray far from their host. In an aquarium, where they don't have to forage for food, it is very common for clownfish to remain within 6 to 12 inches of their host for an entire lifetime.

Clownfish and damselfish are the only species of fish which can avoid the potent stings of an anemone. There are several theories for how this avoidance is accomplished. Firstly, the slime coating of the fish may be based on sugar rather than proteins so anemones fail to recognize the fish as food and do not fire their nematocysts, or sting organelles.

Secondly, the mucous coating may mimic the anemone's own coating, a theory that is bolstered by the fact that it takes several days for a clownfish to adapt to a new species of anemone. There is no adaptation period when a clownfish is moved to another anemone of the same species.

Thirdly, their unique movements, which are unlike any other fish, may let the anemone know that they are not food. This theory is bolstered by the fact that juvenile clownfish, which have no coating, will immediately seek refuge in any compatible anemone and will not be stung. Juvenile clownfish will not survive for long without the protection of an anemone, and few find one before being eaten.

Clownfish live in their anemone in groups. Usually a female lives with other males. When the dominant female dies the head male changes sex and becomes the female. [1]

Clownfish lay eggs on any flat surface close to or under the protection of their host anemones. In the wild, clownfish spawn around full moon and the male 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.

Species

Twenty-seven, including:


Ocellaris clownfish and sea anemone

Tomato clownfishes and sea anemone

Maldive anemonefish are sometimes called black-footed clownfish due to their black pelvic and anal fins


Clownfish in popular culture

  • In the 2003 film Finding Nemo, the animated characters Nemo, his mother Coral, and his father Marlin are clownfish.
  • The 2007 film XXY depicts clownfish in several scenes, referring to their hermaphrodite system and a subtle allusion to the movie's main theme, the sexual identity.

In the aquarium

Clownfish are a very popular fish for a reef aquarium. Clownfish are now tank-bred to lower the number taken from reefs; tank-bred clownfish are slightly more disease resistant and also will not be affected by high levels of stress when introduced to the aquarium unlike a wild-caught fish.

External links

References

1. ^ [1]
A. ocellaris

Binomial name
Amphiprion ocellaris
(Lacépède, 1802)

The Ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) or false Percula clownfish is a popular aquarium fish.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Actinopterygii
Klein, 1885

Subclasses

Chondrostei
Neopterygii
See text for orders.
The Actinopterygii (the plural form of Actinopterygius) comprise the class of the ray-finned fishes.
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Perciformes

Families

many, see text
The Perciformes, also called the Percomorphi or Acanthopteri, include about 40% of all fish and are the largest order of vertebrates. The name Perciformes means perch-like.
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Pomacentridae

Genera
See text.

Pomacentridae is a family of perciform fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. They are exclusively marine (rarely brackish), and noted for their hardy constitutions and territoriality.
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family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is a rank, or a taxon in that rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code which applies.
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Pomacentridae

Genera
See text.

Pomacentridae is a family of perciform fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. They are exclusively marine (rarely brackish), and noted for their hardy constitutions and territoriality.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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Premnas
Cuvier, 1816

Species

See text.

Premnas is a genus of clownfish in the family Pomacentridae.

Species

  • Premnas biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)
  • Premnas leucodesmus

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In biology the phrase type genus is used differently depending on the nomenclatural Code that applies:
  • In zoological nomenclature, a type genus is "The nominal genus that is the name-bearing type of a nominal family-group taxon.

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Amphiprioninae

Genus: Amphiprion

Genus: Premnas

Species
See text.
The clownfish, or anemonefish, are the subfamily Amphiprioninae of the family Pomacentridae.
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Damselfish refers to members of the family Pomacentridae, except those of the two genera Amphiprion and Premnas. Other species within the family have common names that include the word 'damselfish', but in almost all cases this is qualified with an adjective or
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean


The Pacific Ocean (from the Latin name Mare Pacificum
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Earth's oceans
(World Ocean)
  • Arctic Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
This article is about the water body. For the Indian fusion music band, see Indian Ocean (band).

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symbiosis (from the Greek: συμ, sym, "with"; and βίοσίς, biosis, "living") can be used to describe various degrees of close relationship between organisms of different species.
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Actiniaria

Diversity
46 families

Suborders

Endocoelantheae
Nyantheae
Protantheae
Ptychodacteae
Sea anemones are a group of water dwelling, predatory animals of the order Actiniaria
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Damselfish refers to members of the family Pomacentridae, except those of the two genera Amphiprion and Premnas. Other species within the family have common names that include the word 'damselfish', but in almost all cases this is qualified with an adjective or
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Sugars, brown
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 0 kcal   0 kJ

Carbohydrates     97.33 g
- Sugars  96.21 g
- Dietary fiber  0 g  
Fat 0 g
Protein 0 g
Water 1.77 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1)  0.
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Proteins are large organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues.
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partially discharged nematocyst.]] A cnidocyte, cnidoblast or nematocyte, is a type of venomous cell unique to the phylum Cnidaria (corals, sea anemones, hydrae, jellyfish etc.).
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In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit within a cell, having a specific function, and separately enclosed within its own lipid membrane.

The name organelle
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An omnivore (from Latin: omne all, everything; vorare to devour) is a species of animal that eats both plants and animals as its primary food source.
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Copepoda
H. Milne-Edwards, 1840

Orders

Calanoida
Cyclopoida
Gelyelloida
Harpacticoida
Misophrioida
Monstrilloida
Mormonilloida
Platycopioida
Poecilostomatoida
Siphonostomatoida

Copepods
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Mysidacea

Orders & Families
  • Lophogastrida G. O. Sars, 1870
  • Eucopiidae
  • Lophogastridae
  • Mysida A. H.

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A. allardi

Binomial name
Amphiprion allardi

Allard's clownfish, Amphiprion allardi, is named after tom tompson by Herbert Axelrod after his visit to Allards Collecting Station in Kenya.
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A. allardi

Binomial name
Amphiprion allardi

Allard's clownfish, Amphiprion allardi, is named after tom tompson by Herbert Axelrod after his visit to Allards Collecting Station in Kenya.
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A. melanopus

Binomial name
Amphiprion melanopus
Bleaker, 1852

Cinnamon clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus) or fire clownfish is a widely distributed clownfish.
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A. melanopus

Binomial name
Amphiprion melanopus
Bleaker, 1852

Cinnamon clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus) or fire clownfish is a widely distributed clownfish.
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