Good Genetics, or What?

[Reefing Newbie]

So when you go into your LFS and see the tank full of B&W ocellaris clowns, you will notice that they are about 1.25-1.5" long and have a lot of orange left on their noses. Well, my bonded pair (male and female worked out and no fighting between the two, just shakes from the male before bed) are almost completely black already, just a hint of where the orange was on the nose. The female (boss of the pair) is nearly 1.25" and the male is about 1", so why is it that mine have more black than the larger ones at the stores? Is it a genetics thing that plays into this?

As a side note, the male is more black in coloration than the female on the nose (breeder says that this one was probably a smaller one from the batch before the female).

 

[mtcoins123]

interesting question i do not know the answer but i am definiteley interested in the answer so i will tag along hope an answer comes from someone lol .... i believe genetics is right but would be cool if there was an enviromental or other reason....

 

[Tmoriarty]

Anemone can be a reason on some clowns. My onyx perc had a mostly black body and in a month in her new nem has turned mostly orange with wide black stripes outlining her white stripes.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I know the clowns that are at my LFS are from ORA, not sure if they keep nems in with their breeding clowns or small clowns.

The breeder I got my clowns from has the parents in a 90 gallon reef with 4-6 (all clones from the mother nem). Both parents are completely black (I know some won't get all black and will have some orange left on the nose as adults). The fry are not raised in a tank with nems, which another breeder raises the babies in a tank with BTAs from birth to selling. I am not sure if this is an anemone related issue or not...

 

[D-Nak]

I think many factors play a part in coloration, both environmental (such as an anemone or other host, to something as simple as the water quality/temperature) and internal mechanisms (genes, as you've touched upon). I don't know if there is a definite answer since so many factors are involved.

For example, I have two Rod's onyx clowns (known for their black dorsal fins) but the smaller one -- about 1.25" in length -- has a completely black dorsal while the larger one is still changing. However, this really doesn't tell me anything since we don't know if one clown is older than the other or if the size difference is due to not age, but social structure (I think it's safe to assume that the larger clown is the female). It could also be their gigantea host, or it could be the temperature of the water.

Until we can isolate these factors and test to see what happens, we will never know the true reason for the development of coloration.

 

[Reefing Newbie]

I never thought much about all of those other factors. That really does make it difficult to figure out what affects the development of coloration.

Personally, I didn't think a host nem would affect the coloration of a black and white ocellaris. However, I did know it affected the coloration of perculas.

 

[phender]

I have noticed two things that seem to affect the color of the B&W ocellaris. Age and stress level.
In a tank with a bunch of young fish there is almost always at least 2 or 3 that are completely black. If you watch carefully, they are not always the largest fish, but they are usually the most dominant. If you buy a couple orange faced fish and take them home (and the tank is not too busy) they will usually turn completely black in a couple months. If you go back to the store/breeder where you bought them (and they still have a large group), there will still only be a few that have turned all black.
At least that was the case with the guy who used to breed large amounts of them near me.

 

[mikelee35]

The orange on the nose usually goes away with sexual maturity, and if there are only 2 clownfish in the tank they mature faster due to not needing to fight with the other fish so much and they focus more on sexual maturity and not gaining size, but good genetics can make a difference,