Anemonefish

The Clown Anemonefish can be recognised by its orange colour with three white bars (the middle bar usually has a rounded bulge anteriorly) and black markings on the fins.

This species grows to 8 cm in length and feeds on algae and zooplankton.

It usually lives in the tentacles of two species of sea anemone. In sheltered inshore reefs it lives in Stichodactyla gigantea, and on outer reefs it usually lives in Heteractis magnifica.

The Clown Anemonefish is found in depths from 1 m to 12 m.

It occurs in tropical marine waters of Melanesia and Queensland. In Australia it is known from the entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

A very similar species, the False-Clown Anemonefish, Amphiprion ocellaris, is found from the Ryukyu Islands, Japan, throughout South-east Asia and south to Australia. In Australia it is known from the north-western coast of Western Australia and the Northern Territory but not from the Great Barrier Reef.

The Clown Anemonefish was brought to international stardom in the Pixar animated film Finding Nemo.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Anemonefish
• Clownsfish
• clown
• nemo