A. allardi or Fiji A chrysopterus

Winwood said:
...
Perhaps, I feel like the melanistic argument has changed a bit since originally proposed. For instance it was originally cited that chrysopterus was one of the species that linked melanism to anemone host. It seems now that it more of a locale variant such as the Solomon Island and PNG variants. Clarkii and tricinctus definitely exhibit melanism in certain host anemones though.
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On clarkii and percula I have witnessed the change, though with the percula it went differently than expected: When I put my pair #3 into a gig they actually lost a lot of their black.
Anemones definitely have a part in this, but I don't think it is as clear cut as previously thought.

With percula I feel that there might be rather sub populations (or genetic strains) that prefer either gigantea or magnifica. Field and lab studies have shown that percula larva look for the type of anemone their parents were in. While they are open to take both anemones in a pinch they clearly prefer the ones that smell like "home".

Winwood said:
Hard to go wrong with any of those species once healthy. I think you are aware of the challenges of both chrys and latz.
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I've had latezonatus before and know that they are not easy due to their cold water (20°C to 24°C) origin. Though it appears they can handle it a bit warmer. Most challenges with clowns I had in the past came from lack of remedies for Brook and bacterial infections. Now, with the right medications at hand I don't worry as much as before. I feel as long as I get them in a decent state I will be able to get them through.
If I could get a nice pair for a reasonable price I would probably prefer latezonatus over all others, simply because they are the most in need of being captive bred and probably one of the more "special" clowns.

LargeAngels said:
Fiji blue stripes can turn completely brown, from yellow. I know, I've got a pair.
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That is my concern - that they turn out like the one Blue Zoo shows on their website.

LargeAngels said:
Here is a good write up on blue stripes.

http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2014...g-and-diverse-blue-stripe-clownfishes-part-5/
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I know that article and agree that likely many of the local variants will turn out to be district species in their own right.
With chrysopterus there is already some genetic evidence that the Solomon "chryopterus" are only distant relatives of the Fiji ones:

clownfish-info.jpg


Clarkii may be another candidate for reconsideration, simply because of the seemingly wide distribution range and vast number of "color variants".

The black Darwin "ocellaris" are most likely also a district species.

Another issue to me is, why a slightly larger opercular thorn justifies to put the maroons into their own genus.
 
I have a single A. allardi that was accidentally included in an order to one of my LFS almost 3 years ago, and was given to me by the owner since he did not order it. I believe it to be wild-caught (just a hunch), and it was about an inch when I grabbed it. It also appears to be the melanistic morph mentioned in the reef2rainforest article series for A. clarki variants.

It has immediately taken to every anemone placed with it, and has been living in the large purple H. malu seen in the pictures below for well over a year. It has also been sharing my 50g cube with a pair of pink skunk clowns without issue, and has seemed to stop growing. The aquarium also houses an extremely large lemon damsel that keeps every other fish suppressed, FWIW.

I love this clown since it is so different from all my other clowns being so dark, and I also have a pair of A. clarki in an IM Nuvo 20 at my campus office that are just the opposite - very yellow with no trace of melanism, maybe because they are housed with about a dozen RBTA...




 
ThRoewer said:
That allardi seems to be still quite small.
Nice purple crispa!
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It is just under 2.5" now, so it has doubled in size, but has not grown since moving it to the 50g cube (it was in a 15g aquarium by itself for over a year), which may or may not be due to the interaction of the other fishes (dominant female pink skunk and very large lemon damsel).

The nem is a H. malu, but thanks! :thumbsup:
 
I don't think that's a Fiji variant. Looks like a Marshall island variant. That is exactly how all my MI variants turned out after a couple months in captivity.
 
Here is that same pair a couple months later.


I also had a smaller pair with thin bands like yours Large Angels. They too were from the MI and went brown on me. Unfortunately at that point I was over documenting brown clownfish.
 
Ah that makes sense. I have always been fascinated by the ones from Guam and Tahiti because they seem to be the only variants that regularly associate with H. magnifica. All the other ones I've kept with mags seem to be stung by anemone's tentacles initially. Even after the acclimation phase, it seemed like the clowns would only hang out on the periphery of the anemone and not swim through the tentacles.
 
So based on this, if going with chrysopterus it's best to chose the ones from Fiji and host them in a crispa or mertensi.

All the allardi I've seen so far in person were "browned out".
 
So we have brown variety blue stripes from Guam, Marshal Island and Fiji. Interesting. I've also seen pics showing thin striped brown variety from Tahiti.
 
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