CLOWNFISH

Muhammad fakhruzzaman
XII IPA 3/19

Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes

from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the
family Pomacentridae. About twenty-nine
species of clownfish are recognized, one in the
genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the
genus Amphiprion.

Depending on species, clownfish are

overall yellow, orange, reddish or blackish, and
many show white bars or patches. The largest
can reach a length of 18 centimetres, while
some barely can reach 10 centimetres.
Clownfish are native to warmer waters of the
Indian and Pacific oceans, including the Great
Barrier Reef and the Red Sea. While most species have restricted distributions, others are
widespread. They are generally highly host specific, and especially the genera Heteractis and
Stichodactyla, and the species Entacmaea quadricolor are frequent partners. Clownfish live
at the bottom of the sea in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons, usually in pairs. They are
also found in northwest Australia, southeast Asia, Japan and the Indo-Malaysian region and
there are no clownfish in the Caribbean.

The clownfish feeds on small invertebrates which otherwise potentially could harm
the sea anemone, and the fecal matter from the clownfish provides nutrients to the sea
anemone. Clownfish are omnivores. in the wild they eat live food such as algae, plankton,
mollusks, and crustacea; in captivity they can survive on live food, fish flakes, and fish
pellets. They feed mostly on copepods and mysids, and undigested food from their host
anemones.
 Clownfish live in pairs inhabiting a single anemone. When the female dies, the
dominant male changes sex and becomes the female. This life history strategy is known as
sequential hermaphroditism. The largest fish in the group is a female and the second biggest
is a male. All the other clownfish are neuter, which means they have not fully developed
functioning sex organs for either gender. If the female should die, the male will change sex,
while the biggest neuter clownfish will develop functioning male sex organs to replace the
male.

Clownfish lay eggs on any flat surface close to their host anemones. In the wild,
clownfish spawn around the time of the full moon and the male parent guards them until
they hatch about 6 to 10 days later, typically 2 hours after dusk. Depending on the species,
clownfish can lay hundreds or thousands of eggs. Clownfish were the first type of marine
ornamental fish to be successfully bred in captivity on a large scale. In captivity, the
clownfish can live from 3 to 5 years. In the wild, they live 6 to 10 years.