Common Clownfish
Order: Perciformes Family: Pomacentridae Genus & Species: Amphiprion percula
The common clownfish can protect itself from the many predators of the coral reef by living among the stinging tentacles of a large sea anemone. They are found in the tropical eastern Indian Ocean, South China Sea and Western Pacific east as far as the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
| Habitat The common clownfish is found among coral reefs in tropical parts of the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. Corals are huge colonies of tiny animals known as polyps, which live together and, over many years, build up vast reefs. Because corals are found only in shallow waters where sunlight penetrates, the clownfish is usually found in sheltered areas at depths of six metres or less. Whatever its location, the clownfish always lives with a host sea anemone. Clownfish generally are known to occupy nine species of sea anemone, although each clownfish species is usually found with only one or two kinds of anemone. |
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Behaviour The tentacles of a sea anemone are laden with stinging cells that trap prey and deter enemies. When a tentacle is touched, it shoots a poisonous dart into the victim to sting or kill it. The clownfish avoids becoming prey itself by secreting a thick mucus all over its skin. This mucus acts as a barrier against the anemone's poison and it lacks the chemicals that normally activate the stinging cells. |
| Few predators will pursue a clownfish into the anemones deadly embrace.
It rarely ventures away from its shelter as it is a slow swimmer and is easy prey. |
| Feeding As they cannot venture far from the anemone, they feed mainly on planktonic animals that drift past in the current and on certain types of algae growing near the anemone. The clownfish captures prey with its close set teeth and passes it back to the throat. There strong teeth mounted on the gill-supporting bones crush the prey into a digestible pulp. |
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Breeding Common clownfish live as a pair in their host anemone, usually with a few juveniles. The breeding pair first cleans a site for the eggs, usually a rock or shell near the base of the anemone. The female lays between 200 and 400 oval, orange eggs then the male fertilizes them. The eggs are attached to the rock or shell by fine threads. The fish constantly fan the eggs with their fins and pick them over with their mouths to keep them clean. |
| Larvae hatch after 7 or 8 days andd immediately swim towards the surface. They spend the next 7 to 10 days as floating plankton and return to the reef when no larger than a human fingernail. They seek a suitable host anemone as soon as they settle on the reef and remain in that immediate area for the rest of their lives. |