Clown fish
The lovable clown fish are the most recognizable fish in the marine aquarium industry bar none. No other species even remotely comes close. They are the oceans best ambassadors and have even appeared in movies such as the hit animated film, Finding Nemo.
Also known as anemonefish, all clown fish share a unique trait that seperates them from other species of fish. They share a symbiotic relationship with anemones in the wild and have learned to avoid the stinging cells that is the hallmark of anemones.
They belong to the family Pomacentridae and are made up of the genus Premnas and Amphiprion. Traditionally very hardy fish, almost all clown fish are a suitable species for beginners as they usually adapt to captivity very quickly. They readily accept a wide variety of foods from meaty seafood to seaweed. Combined with their low cost, they are very good sellers in the marine aquarium trade.
Clown Fish are also one of the first marine ornamental fish that we bred in captive raised tanks. They pair up and breed willingly in aquariums as small as a ten gallon tank. However, raising them to adulthood is another matter all together. All clown fish are protandrous hermaphrodites, which means they start life as males and have the potential to become the dominant female in the group. While males can become females if social conditions permit it, females cannot revert back into males.
Assuming you put a group of males together for a prolonged period of time, the strongest of them will eventually become a female. As such, gender is determined via social hierarchy in a group. While getting them to breed is easy, raising their larvae is not. Live foods such as are a necessary part of their diet until they begin to accept prepared foods. It is a long and drawn out process that requires a commited breeder to pull off. While some species may be harder to breed than others, clown fish are generally the easiest species to breed in captivity.
Because of this, we have a few variants of clown fish that were produced entirely through selective breeding. ORA (Oceans Reefs and Aquariums) have been at the forefront of this market and have come out with some interesting straing that include platinum clownfish, snowflake clownfish, misbar clownfish, naked clownfish and the picasso clownfish.
Overall, members of the clownfish family are great choices for any marine aquarium enthusiast as they are tough, usually cheap and are some of the most endearing marine aquarium fish in the hobby. Some rarer specimens include the much wanted ORA varieties as well as the seldom imported Wide Bar Clownfish and the Mccullochi clown. While Wide bars will usually run into the hundreds for a specimen, the latter runs into the thousands.
