How the Clownfish Got its Name

Little is known specifically about false clownfish mating behaviors, but the general behaviors of anemonefish are known. All anemonefish are monogamous. Before spawning, the male prepares a nest by clearing a spot on bare rock near the anemone, according to the ADW. He then courts a female with a show of extended fins, biting and chasing , according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

He chases the female to the nest, but after that it is up to her to make the next move. She will make several passes over the nest before depositing her eggs. She will lay from to 1, eggs, which are 3 to 4 millimeters long. The male then passes over the nest and releases sperm to fertilize the eggs. Then, the female swims off. The male does most of the "egg sitting. The eggs hatch six to eight days later.

The larvae float away and spend about 10 days adrift. They start their lives clear or transparent, but as they begin to mature they start to gain the color of their species. As juveniles, the young will settle to the bottom of the reef to search for a host anemone. Ocellaris clownfish are not endangered.

However, in the last generation, 15 to 30 percent of the world's reefs have been lost, according to the ADW. Some of the destruction has been caused by fishermen catching clownfish to sell as pets. Conservationists are concerned about the "Nemo Effect," as some areas are overfished to meet the demand for these popular aquarium fish. Also, according to the Aquarium Welfare Association AWA , many people bought the clownfish without knowing how to properly care for them. In addition, the sea anemones are given better water circulation because the clownfish fan their fins while swimming about.

Clown Fish Facts

Clownfish live at the bottom of the sea in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons, usually in pairs. Clownfish have a special relationship with the anemone and are very important to them. They are a large help to the anemone as they clean the anemone by eating the algae and other food leftovers on them. They also protect the sea anemones by chasing away polyp-eating fish, such as the butterfly fish. The map below shows where in the world clownfish can be found. They live in the warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.

There are no clownfish in the Caribbean. The spawning season of the clownfish, a time when they breed, is year round in tropical waters. Males attract the females by courting.

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Courting behaviours include chasing, biting and extending fins. Clownfish lay their eggs in batches on coral, rock or next to the sea anemone that they call home. The male clownfish will build a nest on the rock or coral near the anemone in order to be provided with protection from predators. Breeding starts by the male chasing the female to the nest where the eggs are released.

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One hundred to one thousand eggs are laid. The male clownfish guards and protects the eggs until they hatch. They hatch within 4 to 5 days. In a group of clownfish, there is a strict hierarchy of dominance. The largest and most aggressive female is found at the top. Only two clownfish, a male and a female, in a group reproduce through external fertilization.

The clownfish are hermaphrodites, meaning that they develop into males first, and when they mature, they become females. Also, as mentioned earlier, more than one clownfish is able to live in a sea anemone. Various hypotheses exist about the fish's ability to live within the anemone without being harmed.

One study carried out at Marineland of the Pacific by Dr.

Demorest Davenport and Dr. Kenneth Noris in revealed that the mucus secreted by the anemone fish prevented the anemone from discharging its lethal stinging nematocysts. A second hypothesis is that A. The anterior white bar is placed just behind the eye, the middle bar goes straight down the middle of the fish, and the posterior bar occurs near the caudal fin.

An anterior projecting bulge also exists on the middle bar. In addition to the white coloring, black edging outlines each fin with varying thickness.

This is known as the ocellaris clownfish and sometimes referred to as the "false percula clownfish" or "common clownfish" due to its similar color and pattern. The "easiest" way to distinguish the two species is the fact that A. Since these fish live in a warm-water environment, they can reproduce all year long. Each group of fish consists of a breeding pair and none to four nonbreeders. Within each group there is a size-based hierarchy: If the female dies, the breeding male becomes the breeding female, and the largest nonbreeder becomes the breeding male.

The spawning process is correlated with the lunar cycle. At night time the moon maintains a higher level of alertness in A. Before spawning, the male attracts the female via courting behaviour. These courting actions include extending their fins, biting the female and chasing her. The males also swim rapidly in an upward and downward motion to attract the females.

The nest site is also important for the survival of the eggs. Why the nonbreeders continue to associate with these groups has been unclear. Unlike nonreproductives in some animal groups, they cannot obtain occasional breeding opportunities, because their gonads are not functional. They cannot be regarded as helpers at the nest , since their presence does not increase the reproductive success of the breeders. Recent research [8] suggests that they are simply queuing for the territory occupied by the breeders, i.

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The development of the fish from juvenile to adult is dependent on the system of hierarchy, and can be described as density-dependent. Aggression is involved in these small families, although usually not between the male and the female. The aggression usually exists between the males.

Facts About Clownfish

The largest male suppresses the development of the next smallest male, and the cycle continues until the smallest fish is evicted from the host anemone. Within each anemone, the regulation of the species is controlled by the female, since the amount of space for fish in her anemone is directly proportional to her size which eventually reaches a maximum , so she ultimately controls the size of the other fish.

Never-Before-Seen Footage of Clownfish Hatching

A potential exists for a fish to ascend in rank by contesting its dominant.