clown experts...ID please

[steveweast]

I've had this pair of "Clarkiis" for quite awhile now.....but, over the past few months, they have become egg laying fools....laying eggs three times a month. I know that they are in the Clarkii family....but I don't think that they are true Clarkiis......mine have:

1) only two stripes....not three
2) a completely yellow tail....instead of white
3) a somewhat swallow tail.... instead of rounded

What are they? The ID books that I have are no help.

Here's the male (he's about 3 inches)....sorry for the blurry pics....they're zoomed in from a bigger pic.

Here's the female (she's about 3.5 inches)....

 

[Ron Popeil]

hey steve, definetely clarkiis....probably collected around vanuatu, but not necessarily so. many many many variants of clarkiis out there, and several of those variants have only two stripes. terrific looking fish!

 

[steveweast]

But, isn't "clarkii" like saying "tang" meaning that there are several types of clarkii ?

 

[steveweast]

In my book....under the Clarkii complex....there are like 12 entries....with names like madagascar clown, two banded clown, and orange fin clown. None of their descriptions seemed to fit my pair....and their desciption of "Clark's" clown certainly doesn't fit......but, I do agree that they are in the Clarkii complex....I just don't think that they are Clark's clown....but, I don't know what they are.

 

[Ron Popeil]

no, not as far as i know. clarkii is a distinct species of fish with multiple variants, where as there are numerous individual species of tangs. even amongst your species of tangs, youre going to probably see some slight differences depending on collection location.

collection location often reflects the different looks of each other variants - for example your typical white striped maroon clownfish and your golden striped maroon. same species of fish, just have different types of striping depending on collection location. i believe sumatra provides the gold stripes....

 

[Ron Popeil]

even better than your book....

http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/clarkii.htm

the other markers that, to me, identify them as clarkii as opposed to any other species is the shape and width of the bars. your other clarki complex species have pretty distinct bars that help identify them over other species. the wide bars like yours point to amphiprion clarkii.

 

[MarinaP]

They are clarkii.

And Jordan has provided a good link

 

[steveweast]

That site is helpful...thanks. I only wish they had real pics instead of drawings. Now, I just have to figure out which one they are.

 

[steveweast]

Well, there are not that many clowns from that site with two stripes and a yellow tail ....which narrows it down....looks like Vanuatu is the winner...thanks.

 

[stykthyn]

great fish, look just like my old pair. I didnt have an anemone so they would lay down ontop of each other on the sand. The first time I saw that I thought they were dead and freaked out. Best pair of clowns I have ever had.