Juvy Tomato with 3 stripes?

[Ovuel]

So I was walking through the same LFS which has mislabeled fish in the past and I come across one of the smallest clowns I have seen to date. He was in a tank all by himself, one of the brightest orange/red colors I have ever seen, and he was labeled as a Tomato. Next thing I know he turns sideways and he has three stripes resembling a Perc/Osc. Can Tomatos have three stripes or is this another case of mislabeling at the LFS?

Another thing I noticed that seemed a little odd was he didn't quite have the same body shape as the other Tomatos I have seen, he was more oval shaped than pear shaped, but again this is the smallest clownfish I have ever seen so I'm definately not sure if they all start out with similar shape.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

yep- juvi frenatus have 3 stripes ///

 

[Ovuel]

Thanks Gary, any idea at all up to what age?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

it varies with each fish. I used to raise Tomato Clowns. If I recall correctly, many start losing that 3rd stripe about 4 months after metamorphosis. I once had one Tomato with 4 stripes. Pretty little bugger.

 

[Ovuel]

Sounds good. Thanks man I appreciate the insight. One last question, did you ever have juvies with only one stripe or did they always have 3 stripes? I guess I should have asked these all at once }:c).

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

all my juvi tomato had at least 2 stripes... each fish was slightly different.