Clownfish
Amphiprion sp.
- Not on exhibit
- Animal type
- Fishes
- Ecosystem
- Coral reefs
- Relatives
- Damselfishes; Family: Pomacentridae
- Diet
- Tiny drifting animals like copepods and zooplankton; algae
- Range
- Throughout most of the tropical Indo-Pacific
- Size
- Up to 4.5 inches (11 cm)
Meet the clownfish
A clownfish lives nestled among the tentacles of a stinging anemone. Scientists have found that it has a special layer of mucus that keeps the anemone from stinging.
Natural history
In the wild, a clownfish needs the protection it finds in an anemone. The anemone’s stings keep fish predators at bay, and a clownfish never lives without its host anemone. The partnership may benefit the anemone as well—it gets scraps of food dropped by the clownfish as it eats. And the aggressive and territorial clownfish may defend its anemone by driving away butterflyfishes and other anemone-eating fishes.
These clownfish babies were carefully raised by aquarists Raymond Direen and Jennifer O'Quinn Antsey.
A clownfish (Amphiprion sp.), also called an anemonefish.
Conservation
In places, unscrupulous collectors use harmful chemicals to catch coral reef fishes for the pet trade. Applying the chemicals stuns the fish and makes it easy to collect. But these poisons can also kill fishes, corals and other reef life. If you have a home aquarium, buy fishes raised in captivity—not ones collected from the wild.
Cool facts
- All clownfish start life as a male. As it grows, a male may change to become a female.
- Before a clownfish can call an anemone home, it has to get comfortable. The fish gently touches the anemone's tentacles over a period of several hours or days, until the fish forms a layer of mucus that protects it from the stings.
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