Clowns/ false perc???

cappymrgn

New member
Can someone give me rundown the differnces between the two? I remember hearing one is more hardy than the other and I have noticed a price difference, but I would appreciate some help! BTW I have a BC29 with 2 damsels right now.

Thanks
JAson
 
i think false percula is more hardy and a little less aggressive
they are also really easy to aquaculture so they are probably cheaper.

i've only ever seen false percs for sale in actual fish stores
 
The difference between what two? I'm guessing you mean the difference between a true percula and a false percula (a.k.a. ocellaris). They're both clownfish, and they're very, very similar. Both are pretty hardy, and I don't know if I'd say one is more hardy than the other. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few marine biologists who believe they may really be the same species. True perculas are usually your more expensive fish, though. Most fish stores will carry both, but ocellaris are definitely the more common of the two species, so you'll see them in stores much more often.
 
+1^

True percs also tend to have bolder black stripes than the false (ocellaris) percs.
 
A. ocellaris and A. percula are clearly distinct species. In fact, genetic evidence suggests there may actually be two species within A. percula. In practice though, they can be hard to tell apart without DNA tests since all of the characters that distinguish them overlap. Often, A. ocellaris is a more pale, translucent orange than A. percula and has a thinner, sharper black border to the stripes. A. ocellaris also tends to be slightly bigger when fully grown. If you really want to look closely, A. ocellaris has 10-11 dorsal spines while A. percula has 9-10.

Behaviorally, they're identical and IME have similar survival.
 
Thanks for the informative replies. I will probably go with the ocellaris, but have to see what the difference in price is at the store since that seem to be the main difference.

Thanks again!
Jason
 
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