Is it true...
- Thread starter Random Aquarist
- Start date
elegance coral
They call me EC
what about WC clowns that dont host?
I have never seen this. All of them did host at one time. I'm not going to say that its not possible just because I havent seen it. I guess one could argue that the stress of capture and shipping causes a few of them to flip out. I doubt it though. Just about anything is possible in my opinion. I have seen fish do some strange things.
I have never seen this. All of them did host at one time. I'm not going to say that its not possible just because I havent seen it. I guess one could argue that the stress of capture and shipping causes a few of them to flip out. I doubt it though. Just about anything is possible in my opinion. I have seen fish do some strange things.
elegance coral
They call me EC
How am I wrong on this too? What part of what I said was wrong?
GSMguy
New member
its not about stress and shipping its just hard to get a WC perc or Ocellaris to host a BTA or something else but if you add a propper anemone they will dive right in the same is true for clowns
nobody posts on rc about their percs not hosting their big healthy gigantea wc or tr they will host.
nobody posts on rc about their percs not hosting their big healthy gigantea wc or tr they will host.
55semireef
Moved On
They have no fear of predators because they havn't seen them yet. I promise you if you were to throw a grouper or a lionfish in the tank and I am sure that those TR (tank raised) clowns will host anything for protection, ideally an anemone.
You can't flaw a clownfishes instinct to host. It would take evolution for that to happen. You take a TR clownfish that is not hosting anything and throw them in their natural habitat, they will seek out an anemone first thing. If you put the clownfish in the right situation, they will go back to their instincts. Its like this with dogs too. During Hurricane Katrina, many dogs lossed their owners and were forced on the flooded streets without a home. However, many dogs managed to form packs with each other just like wolves. Dogs that never knew each other before formed packs! I find that quite amazing considering that that it is an instinct that they aquired from wolves many thousand generations ago. Simply, you cannot alter or flaw a clownfishes instinct to host an anemone, especially their natural host.
55semireef
Moved On
Exactly!
elegance coral
They call me EC
I said one could argue that point. I didn't say I believed it. In fact I said that I doubted it. I said that I have never seen a wc clown not host. I have had Ocellaris in my elegance before. In my experiance with Ocellaris they will host just about anything. Thats not to say that other people havent had different experiances.
Still don't understand how that was wrong.
Still don't understand how that was wrong.
elegance coral
They call me EC
According to what you just wrote man can change the way an animal acts. These animals acted differently when mans influence was there. Their behavior didn't change untill this changed. We can cause an animal whos instinct is to form packs like wolves and hunt down pray to become big lap dogs that play with our childern. you just proved that it doesn't take evolution to change the way an animal behaves. If we can do this with dogs and countless other species of animals around the planet, why is it so hard for you to believe that some clowns raised by man would behave differently than their wild relatives?
55semireef
Moved On
I didn't think I would have to explain this but I guess I do.
Man used natural selection to breed for certain traits such as companionship, hunting skills, etc. However in the clownfish world, we are not using natural selection with clownfish. All we are doing is providing a home for them which is our fish tank.
Slakker
Premium Member
I think you mean selective breeding, as opposed to natural selection. Natural selection is...well...natural, and our breeding for specific traits is certainly not.
What Rod is doing over at Rod's Reef with his Onyx clowns could be considered similar to how the human race has bred dogs for certain traits over the years, but for now much of what we breed for is specific physical traits, coloration, body shape, etc. Most breeders breed to match as closely as possible the wild holotype.
IMO, the fact that many CB clowns come from WC pairs implies that we're not even close to breeding the hosting instinct out of them. Even so, the symbiotic relationship with anemones is what makes them clownfish...we have thus far not removed any characteristics that make a dog a dog.
My two cents, anyways.
What Rod is doing over at Rod's Reef with his Onyx clowns could be considered similar to how the human race has bred dogs for certain traits over the years, but for now much of what we breed for is specific physical traits, coloration, body shape, etc. Most breeders breed to match as closely as possible the wild holotype.
IMO, the fact that many CB clowns come from WC pairs implies that we're not even close to breeding the hosting instinct out of them. Even so, the symbiotic relationship with anemones is what makes them clownfish...we have thus far not removed any characteristics that make a dog a dog.
My two cents, anyways.
55semireef
Moved On
lol...wow. I didn't catch that. Yes thank you slakker for catching my error. Yes, selective breeding is obviously what I meant.
Random Aquarist
New member
38-7
ryan_reefer
New member
So millions of years of evolution and one generation bred in captivity and those millions of years evolution have been wiped out of there instincts? LOL
MiddletonMark
Premium Member
Clown larvae may `see' wild clowns in an anemone as they hatch and float up to the plankton, where they spend a few weeks before transforming into fish/juvenile clowns - but there are weeks that they spend in the plankton during this transformation.
During this time, they are not around clownfish or anemones. Perhaps there is a spontaneous learning [about the role of anemones] in the moments the larvae hatch - but IMO it's pretty likely it's hard-wired.
And given the speed of most evolutionary trends - I doubt a few generations captive can remove that. JMO, though
