Saddleback Clownfish

Description

Saddleback Clownfish are adorable fish. They have dark bodies instead of orange. As a result, this colour nicely accentuates their broad white bands. As the name suggests, the Clownfish’s stripes don’t stop at the base of their fin, as they do in some types of clownfish. Instead, their stripes are unbroken and give them the saddleback pattern. Saddleback Clownfish make great additions to a marine aquarium and are ideal for someone after something a bit different.

Saddleback Clownfish Ecology:

In nature, Clownfish form strict hierarchies, where the dominant fish is female. In the absence of a matriarch, a larger male clown will change gender and become the new boss. This is protandrous hermaphroditism. When it is time to lay eggs, the breeding pair will clear an oval shaped space for brood to go. The male Saddleback Clownfish take up the job of guarding and fanning the eggs. Success of the brood depends on how attentive the subordinate males were.

Famously, Clownfish share a  symbiotic relationship with anemones. The Anemones offer the clownfish protection against predators. This is so, because anemones have stinging cells called nematocysts. Clownfish have protective mucus coats, which prevents the host from stinging them. In return, the Saddleback Clownfish brings in food and keeps the Anemone free from parasites.

Clownfish are omnivorous, they will eat some algae and small meaty foods such as zooplankton or larvae.

Clownfish: In the Aquarium:

Saddleback Clownfish are omnivores and do best when fed a varied diet. They will accept frozen Mysis shrimp and enriched frozen brine shrimp. They will also devour live foods, such as copepods and amphipods, that can be cultivated in attached refugium. Over time they will accept high-quality pellet and flake. We adapt all our Clownfish pairs to aquarium life before they leave us. We focus on their health, and most are eating a good quality flake food and/or pellet, such as JBL Maris, before being offered for sale.

The Fish pictured here are representative only and the livestock you receive may vary in pattern, coloration, and shape.