Anemone vs clownfish coloration?

treylane

Super Scary!!
Premium Member
I've seen it hinted at a few times on this forum, that providing X kind of host anemone to Y kind of clown will enhance/change the color of the clown. Is this just a reefing myth, or are there some good examples of this?
 
I, for one, can tell you it's not a myth. I've experienced, and other reefers as well, that some Percula especially the Onyx variant is prone to fading it's black coloration if it's being hosted in BTA. Do a search and you'll see some threads with pictures to prove it.
 
Not a myth.

Started with,

SIPerc11.jpg


After 6 months, give or take, in an M. doreensis,

percLTA.jpg


After 12 months, give or take, in an S. haddoni,

042.jpg
 
Interesting. Some of the folks on here are way into the actual rather than anecdotal science, so, if I might ask, do we know if this is related to the slime coat change as the clown acclimates to the nem?
 
Interesting. Some of the folks on here are way into the actual rather than anecdotal science......

Sorry but most of us here are reefers. Not scientists. I respect science and it explains/solves a lot of thing in nature but there's just too many things science could not explain especially in marine biology. I just go by how I see it.
 
Sorry but most of us here are reefers. Not scientists. I respect science and it explains/solves a lot of thing in nature but there's just too many things science could not explain especially in marine biology. I just go by how I see it.

Yeah... I wasn't directing anything at you or questioning your response. I've seen plenty of threads here where biologists or chemists throw in some input... (Not necessarily this forum, but RC in general) Just thought I'd clarify in case it sounded like it was "pointed" at you. :-)
 
Pretty cool color shifts... and diet stayed the same? I assume that going from an unnatural host (M. doreensis in Todd's case) to a natural one is an improvement for the fish, but since most clowns have multiple natural hosts, are the results different for the different hosts?

Are there other clown/nem combos that improve color?
 
my percs have just gone into my rbta i will post whether or not there are changes in the next months. i hope that it will not be the case as they just turned more and more black but the look of them cuddling in their anemone would get me over any color changes soon!
 
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