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ClownfishSea Animal

Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species are recognized: one in the genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. In the wild, they all form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones.

Class: Actinopterygii

Scientific name: Amphiprioninae

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Rank: Subfamily

Subfamily: Amphiprioninae; Allen, 1975

Common clown fish, (Amphiprion ocellaris), also called clown anemone fish, false clown fish, or false percula, species of anemone fish best known for its striking orange and white coloration and its mutualism with certain species of sea anemones.

The common clown fish is found on coral reefs in the tropical Pacific and Indian oceans from northwestern Australia, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia to Taiwan and Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. The species achieved popular recognition through its depiction in the animated feature film Finding Nemo (2003).

The orange coloration on the body is broken up by three white bands with thin black borders. Most individuals also have 11 dorsal fin spines, a characteristic that often is used to distinguish the species from the orange clown anemone fish (Amphiprion percula), which is nearly identical.

The common clown fish also has a muddy brown ring around the pupil of the eye, whereas the ring in the pupil of the orange clown anemone fish is clear. Common clown fish can grow to 11 cm (about 4 inches) in length.

The diet of the common clown fish is largely made up of algae and small invertebrates (such as zooplankton and marine isopods); however, parts of organisms killed by the host anemone, as well as cast-off parts of the anemone itself, are also consumed.

Biology of Clownfish
Distribution and habitats
Anemonefish are endemic to the warmer waters of the Indian, including the Red Sea and Pacific Oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Indo-Malaysian region.

While most species have restricted distributions, others are widespread. Anemonefish typically live at the bottom of shallow seas in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons. No anemonefish are found in the Atlantic.

Diet
Anemonefish are omnivorous and can feed on undigested food from their host anemones, and the fecal matter from the anemonefish provides nutrients to the sea anemone.

Anemonefish primarily feed on small zooplankton from the water column, such as copepods and tunicate larvae, with a small portion of their diet coming from algae, with the exception of Amphiprion perideraion, which primarily feeds on algae. They may also consume the tentacles of their host anemone.

Symbiosis and mutualism
Anemonefish and sea anemones have a symbiotic, mutualistic relationship, each providing many benefits to the other. The individual species are generally highly host specific, and especially the genera Heteractis and Stichodactyla, and the species Entacmaea quadricolor are frequent anemonefish partners.

The sea anemone protects the anemonefish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals and occasional dead anemone tentacles, and functions as a safe nest site. In return, the anemonefish defends the anemone from its predators and parasites.

The anemone also picks up nutrients from the anemonefish's excrement. The nitrogen excreted from anemonefish increases the number of algae incorporated into the tissue of their hosts, which aids the anemone in tissue growth and regeneration.

The activity of the anemonefish results in greater water circulation around the sea anemone, and it has been suggested that their bright coloring might lure small fish to the anemone, which then catches them.

Studies on anemonefish have found that they alter the flow of water around sea anemone tentacles by certain behaviors and movements such as "wedging" and "switching".

Aeration of the host anemone tentacles allows for benefits to the metabolism of both partners, mainly by increasing anemone body size and both anemonefish and anemone respiration.

In the aquarium
Anemonefish make up 43% of the global marine ornamental trade, and 25% of the global trade comes from fish bred in captivity, while the majority is captured from the wild, accounting for decreased densities in exploited areas.

Public aquaria and captive-breeding programs are essential to sustain their trade as marine ornamentals, and has recently become economically feasible.

It is one of a handful of marine ornamentals whose complete lifecycle has been in closed captivity. Members of some anemonefish species, such as the maroon clownfish, become aggressive in captivity; others, like the false percula clownfish, can be kept successfully with other individuals of the same species.

When a sea anemone is not available in an aquarium, the anemonefish may settle in some varieties of soft corals, or large polyp stony corals.