Clark's anemonefish is a clownfish that lives among the stinging tentacles of large sea anemones, and it's less picky about which anemone it calls home than any other clownfish. It also has the widest range of any clownfish, across the tropical Indian Ocean and western Pacific; it doesn't live in US waters, but it's sold in the saltwater aquarium trade. It's also called the yellowtail clownfish.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A stocky, oval fish. Males reach about 4 in (10 cm) and females about 6 in (15 cm). Usually black on the back and orange-yellow below, with a white bar behind the eye, another mid-body, and a white tail base. The tail fin is often yellow in males and whitish in females, and fish living with Mertens' carpet anemone can be almost entirely black.
Look-alikes
The ocellaris (the 'Nemo' fish) is orange all over, with three white bars each edged by a thin black line. Clark's anemonefish has a largely black back and a yellow or whitish tail.
Why they get mixed upBoth are banded clownfish commonly seen in aquarium shops.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Coral reefs
- Lagoons
- Outer reef slopes
- Range
- Tropical Indo-West Pacific, from the Persian Gulf and western Australia through the Indo-Australian islands to Melanesia and Micronesia, and north to Taiwan, southern Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands. Not found in US waters.
- Preferred conditions
- Reefs about 3–200 ft (1–60 m) deep, wherever host anemones grow.
Behavior
- Diet
- Omnivorous: small floating animals () and algae, plus scraps from its host anemone's meals.
- Social life
- Each anemone hosts a small group with a strict pecking order. The largest, most aggressive fish is the female; the rest start life as males, and if the female disappears the top male turns into a female.
Life cycle
- Breeding season
- In a study on a Philippine reef, spawning peaked from November through May, with more eggs laid around the new moon.
- Nest
- Eggs are laid on hard surfaces next to the anemone, and the male guards and fans them.
- Lifespan
- One wild female was at least 13 years old when she left her anemone.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
- Status
- The Persian Gulf population is rated Endangered in a regional assessment.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- Both the scientific and common names honor John Heaviside Clark, the engraver who illustrated the 1830 book in which the fish was first described.
More species to explore
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