Maroon Clown With One Ventral Fin

[LucidGoblin]

I found a beautiful maroon clown at Petco the other day. He's about an inch and half with a deep burgundy color body and bright orange edges on his fins. He loves his BTA, but is not too rough with it, and seems real happy and healthy. Then I noticed about two days after I bought him that he only has one ventral fin, and my heart sank. I thought he was the perfect fish. He swims normally, and there is nothing where the missing ventral fin should be. Not a scar or bump. So, I'm thinking its something he was born with. My questions would be:
How many ventral fins is a clownfish naturally supposed to have? Is it always two?
If he was born with it, would it be considered a genetic mutation?
Will it grow back?
Would this bother anyone else as much as it has bothered me?

 

[Apercula]

My old female percula was missing a pelvic fin and had a small curl on the gill cover on the same side. Neither effected her long term health and she spawned regularly when she had a mate. I considered it a mutation and it didnt bother me, but I never tried to raise her fry.

 

[madweazl]

I found a beautiful maroon clown at Petco the other day. He's about an inch and half with a deep burgundy color body and bright orange edges on his fins. He loves his BTA, but is not too rough with it, and seems real happy and healthy. Then I noticed about two days after I bought him that he only has one ventral fin, and my heart sank. I thought he was the perfect fish. He swims normally, and there is nothing where the missing ventral fin should be. Not a scar or bump. So, I'm thinking its something he was born with. My questions would be:
How many ventral fins is a clownfish naturally supposed to have? Is it always two?
If he was born with it, would it be considered a genetic mutation?
Will it grow back?
Would this bother anyone else as much as it has bothered me?

Heck no, if it is otherwise healthy, why would it matter. Just adds character to a fish that is already awesome.

 

[ThRoewer]

I don't think this is a genetic defect or that he was born that way. More likely is that he lost it in a fight as a tiny baby - maroons start fighting right after metamorphosis. Fish don't scar like mammals and if this happened at a very early stage in his life it is quite plausible that it healed perfectly.

Especially clownfish should not be too much handicapped by this as they spend most of their life inside an anemone. So I doubt the fish is much bothered by it.

But it would bother me like crazy. I'm already bothered if the color pattern is not perfectly symmetric on both body sides.

 

[LucidGoblin]

Perfection Is Impossible In An Imperfect World

Perfection Is Impossible In An Imperfect World

Thanks to those who replied with encouragement about my maroon with the missing ventral (pelvic) fin. To the one who said it would bother him like crazy, not so much. I have to convince myself that this not an issue. "Maroni" the Maroon Clownfish is otherwise one of the coolest clowns I've come across. He's very laid back (I don't mean unhealthily lethargic), and spends most of the day lounging in his BTA. He'll occasionally get some exercise by swimming against the current coming out of one the outflow nozzles. Sometimes he'll dance in front of the glass as if he's showing off or trying to get my attention. Anyway, the missing fin is hardly ever noticeable because his bottom half is almost always sunk down into the BTA. And I know from past experience that trying to fix something out of dissatisfaction can lead to more grief. (Like the time I tried to take the black sand out of my old BioCube because an LTA kept digging up off the bottom and depositing on the upper layer of white sand. I won't go into the whole story, but it turned into a horror show. If anyone want's to hear what happened, let me know.) Finding another small maroon clown with Maroni's brillant coloration would be an exercise in futility. As of now, no one in the Vancouver-Portland metro area has maroon clownfish in stock. We're talking about over 10 fish stores! So, barring any miracles, I'll have to let him keep trying to steal my heart.

 

[LucidGoblin]

Upload Failure?

Upload Failure?

Sorry, but I keep trying to post a photo of Maroni the Maroon Clownfish, and the upload keeps failing. Does anyone have an idea why?

 

[ThRoewer]

You asked and I answered honestly - it's not my fault if you don't like the answer.

 

[OllieNZ]

Sorry, but I keep trying to post a photo of Maroni the Maroon Clownfish, and the upload keeps failing. Does anyone have an idea why?

Easiest way is to use a photo hosting website like photobucket or Flickr. You then just copy and paste the img code.

 

[ThRoewer]

Actually, best is to upload it here. This way you don't have to waste limited space on such hosting sites and avoid broken picture links when you clean up your online storage.

Uploading here is really simple: click "Go Advanced", then "Manage Attachments". From there it should be pretty self explanatory.
Only thing that has to be done before is to resize the pictures to meet the size restrictions here. I found the Microsoft Office Picture Manager ideal for that.

 

[LucidGoblin]

Photo Help

Photo Help

Thanks for the advice on uploading photos. I think the image size is the issue, and I will try adjusting it with Picture Manager.

By the way, I understand that ThRoewer was answering honestly about a fish missing a fin. No hard feelings, I'm just still torn on how to handle it. As of now, my old BioCube 14 is sitting empty, and I think what I'll do is refurbish it just for Maroni and his anemone. That way, I won't have to get rid of him completely, because I have gotten pretty attached to him, but he won't live in my display tank (a 30L Nuvo Fusion from Innovative Marine.) I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I can only accept the best in my display tank. I think Maroni will do fine in the BioCube, he'll have the whole tank to himself, except maybe a clean-up crew. Any thoughts on this are welcome, positive or negative. :strooper: