mwp
In Memoriam
Amphiprion ocellaris "Halfblack" (Halfblack Ocellaris Clownfish) Breeding Log!
First, let me kick off this latest breeding log with a HUGE thanks to Joe L. for making this entire "journey" possible...Joe, let's see where this crazy pair of fish takes us...I'm sure there's something to be learned from these oddballs!
2nd, let me state that this is starting off as a duplicate posting of a post I've placed on www.rareclownfish.com. Of course, this being the Fish Breeding Forum of Reef Central, I know these two threads will quickly diverge.
And for those of you who are more than keeping track, YES, I am officially "OVER BUDGET" with clown pairs and technically not enough tanks to house them, so for now, this mutant pair's arrival means that our Allardi and regular Black Ocellaris pair get to cohabitate a while longer. TECHNICALLY I can move our Black OC's to the 6 gallon that's currently holding our 4 baby Onyx Percs...of course I now have 2 young Black Saddles as well that were going to go there. Looks like my regular Black OC's may go back on the market (or into a breeder net) depending on how this experiment pans out.
So, my last tangental comment - we are officially FILLED TO CAPACITY with broodstock fish in my book! OK, there's room for a neon goby mate for our loner and a Yellowhead Jawfish mate for the other lone fish, but otherwise, unless some fish depart, NO MORE NEW FISH!
On with the thread!
-----
I am one of those folks who HATES things like misbars, teardrop tomatoes, picasso perculas, snowflakes, naked clownfish etc. I'm always the first one to support breeding that furthers the security and safetly of natural species over ornamental varients. STUBBY ocellaris? STUBBIES? I can't stand the thought of a fish with a deformity as pronounced as missing vertebrae to be considered "desireable".
Of course, like some many of use, sometimes we come across something that's simply so striking that we find ourselves being more than hypocritcal. Case in point, my latest clownfish addition, a pair of "Halfblack" Ocellaris.
The short story - these 2 fish are 2 of four siblings produced in only one batch among many batches of Black Ocellaris raised by Joe Lichtenbert. (sibling #3 is a swirling durbish that simply swims in loops...not possible to breed with, and sibling #4 basically looks more like an ocellaris that has dusky coloration). [ I should also point out here that the smaller fish lived in a cubicle with the tornado fish, while the larger one was in the cubicle next door. Most likely, based on this "time together", I don't think pairing these two up will be problematic at all. As of just a few hours in the tank, they already seem to be bonded. ]
After my recent visit a couple weeks ago, and perhaps due to my experience with breeding and wholesaling African Cichlids, we got to talking about ongoing breeding programs etc. I mentioned to him that while I personally somewhat despise the though of "naked clowns" and the like, he has this pair of fish in his systems that stood out amoung the literal tens of thousands of Clownfish he has running around, and "if I were running the hatchery, I'd be pairing them up just to see what comes out of them". To Joe, I guess these were just "culls" that he couldn't part with, to me, these are arguably one of the most stunning pairs of "freaky" ocellaris I've ever seen. Of course, now they're MY responsibility!
So, we know these are thrown from Darwin Strains (aka. Black Ocellaris). Of course, they look like they could be the progeny of a Black OC + Reg Oc. cross, except that Joe keeps PHENOMENAL records and knows EXACTLY where these fish came from. His feeling is that they'll take 6-12 months to spawn, and most likely they'll just color up slowly into regular black Ocellaris. Most likely, they'll simply THROW black ocellaris offspring.
Of course, I'm REALLY, REALLY hoping that this is some sort of mutation or throwback that could be fixed by mating these siblings together...Halfblack / Red-Chested Ocellaris, these almost put my Allardis to shame (note, I said "almost"). The intensity of color and size on these fish has me kinda leaning towards these guys NOT getting more black down the road, but rather staying relatively similar to how they appear now. Afterall, the other gadzillion siblings they have have all colored up NORMALLY, in fact most of RPI's Darwin Ocellaris are almost fully black at 3/4"!
I welcome any and all thoughts, especially from folks who are breeding Black Ocellaris. I've simply never seen anything like these before.
My final thoughts - Joe says 6 months to 1 year before this pair of fish breeds IF all goes well. Personally, I'm shooting for MARCH OR APRIL!!!
Let's see if I can get them going!
Matt
First, let me kick off this latest breeding log with a HUGE thanks to Joe L. for making this entire "journey" possible...Joe, let's see where this crazy pair of fish takes us...I'm sure there's something to be learned from these oddballs!
2nd, let me state that this is starting off as a duplicate posting of a post I've placed on www.rareclownfish.com. Of course, this being the Fish Breeding Forum of Reef Central, I know these two threads will quickly diverge.
And for those of you who are more than keeping track, YES, I am officially "OVER BUDGET" with clown pairs and technically not enough tanks to house them, so for now, this mutant pair's arrival means that our Allardi and regular Black Ocellaris pair get to cohabitate a while longer. TECHNICALLY I can move our Black OC's to the 6 gallon that's currently holding our 4 baby Onyx Percs...of course I now have 2 young Black Saddles as well that were going to go there. Looks like my regular Black OC's may go back on the market (or into a breeder net) depending on how this experiment pans out.
So, my last tangental comment - we are officially FILLED TO CAPACITY with broodstock fish in my book! OK, there's room for a neon goby mate for our loner and a Yellowhead Jawfish mate for the other lone fish, but otherwise, unless some fish depart, NO MORE NEW FISH!
On with the thread!
-----
I am one of those folks who HATES things like misbars, teardrop tomatoes, picasso perculas, snowflakes, naked clownfish etc. I'm always the first one to support breeding that furthers the security and safetly of natural species over ornamental varients. STUBBY ocellaris? STUBBIES? I can't stand the thought of a fish with a deformity as pronounced as missing vertebrae to be considered "desireable".
Of course, like some many of use, sometimes we come across something that's simply so striking that we find ourselves being more than hypocritcal. Case in point, my latest clownfish addition, a pair of "Halfblack" Ocellaris.
The short story - these 2 fish are 2 of four siblings produced in only one batch among many batches of Black Ocellaris raised by Joe Lichtenbert. (sibling #3 is a swirling durbish that simply swims in loops...not possible to breed with, and sibling #4 basically looks more like an ocellaris that has dusky coloration). [ I should also point out here that the smaller fish lived in a cubicle with the tornado fish, while the larger one was in the cubicle next door. Most likely, based on this "time together", I don't think pairing these two up will be problematic at all. As of just a few hours in the tank, they already seem to be bonded. ]
After my recent visit a couple weeks ago, and perhaps due to my experience with breeding and wholesaling African Cichlids, we got to talking about ongoing breeding programs etc. I mentioned to him that while I personally somewhat despise the though of "naked clowns" and the like, he has this pair of fish in his systems that stood out amoung the literal tens of thousands of Clownfish he has running around, and "if I were running the hatchery, I'd be pairing them up just to see what comes out of them". To Joe, I guess these were just "culls" that he couldn't part with, to me, these are arguably one of the most stunning pairs of "freaky" ocellaris I've ever seen. Of course, now they're MY responsibility!
So, we know these are thrown from Darwin Strains (aka. Black Ocellaris). Of course, they look like they could be the progeny of a Black OC + Reg Oc. cross, except that Joe keeps PHENOMENAL records and knows EXACTLY where these fish came from. His feeling is that they'll take 6-12 months to spawn, and most likely they'll just color up slowly into regular black Ocellaris. Most likely, they'll simply THROW black ocellaris offspring.
Of course, I'm REALLY, REALLY hoping that this is some sort of mutation or throwback that could be fixed by mating these siblings together...Halfblack / Red-Chested Ocellaris, these almost put my Allardis to shame (note, I said "almost"). The intensity of color and size on these fish has me kinda leaning towards these guys NOT getting more black down the road, but rather staying relatively similar to how they appear now. Afterall, the other gadzillion siblings they have have all colored up NORMALLY, in fact most of RPI's Darwin Ocellaris are almost fully black at 3/4"!
I welcome any and all thoughts, especially from folks who are breeding Black Ocellaris. I've simply never seen anything like these before.
My final thoughts - Joe says 6 months to 1 year before this pair of fish breeds IF all goes well. Personally, I'm shooting for MARCH OR APRIL!!!
Let's see if I can get them going!Matt
)genetic,inheritable mutations in clownfish were never documented.Not even an albino fish after 40 years and millions of fish produced.
