Need help to ID my clowns

Cagdas

New member
I just bought two clown fishes from a local store I thought they were Amphiprion ocellaris however when I look at them more carefully I realized they look different. If you guys can help me ID them I would be very happy. Also if you have any comments on the anemone I picked for them I will appreciate. They seam to like it already but I am not sure. The big guy start bullying the little one is there anything I can do at this point.

Thanks for the help.

35558clown2.JPG


35558clown.JPG
 
They are black A. polumnus or the Black Saddleback clowns. The black variance have deep center strip while the other color variety have very shallow center stripe thus the name saddleback.
 
A.polymnus.

I bought my male yesterday, and he is already biting at the rocks and cleaning a spot.

They are not aggresive what so ever. Very placid fish.

Here are mine.



100_0766.jpg


100_0764.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8114243#post8114243 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Cagdas
Thanks for the quick response, are they easy to pair?
Short term they will squabble a bit.

Long term, I have seen some of the pairs break up with pretty brutal effects. Make sure they have some space.
 
Just so you know they are also considered to be pretty tough on anemones. You BTA looks pretty bleached too. Be sure to keep the anemone very well fed. What sort of lighting do you have? I assume these are in your 90g?
 
Thanks for all the posts, "My F1sh R D34D!" yours look very nice too. I like them a lot I would be happier if they were Amphiprion ocellaris as I thought but I bought them while the store was closing so they were in a rush and I did not had time to lokk and ID them. I bought the anemone at the same time it looks like fluorecence yellow I thought it was its color, do you think it is bleached. They are all in my 90 gal. I have 520W power compacts not all on all the time. I will start feeding it with prime reef and formula one. I also bought a cleaner shrimp from the same store but I found it death today and the clowns were eating it. So I hope it won't cause a problem. They seam ok with the BTA they sleep in it yesterday and not pulling it to much. I will keep posting updates. Any other suggestions will be appreciated
 
I was checking a few other places and saw pictures of Amphiprion sebae which looked very similar to the ones I had any thoughts?
 
That is a common mis-identification. It can be difficult to describe the difference but body-shape is pretty different. The fish you have are exactly like many polymnus that are sold as "black and white percula" in the trade. I'm quite confident in the ID as polymnus.

You can check out this site http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/species.htm and click through to the pictures of both species. She doesn't have a polymnus example exactly like yours but the body shape difference is pretty easy to see in her drawings.
 
You definately have A. polymnus, however A. sebae is a similar fish and evolutionarily speaking, they may have been the same species at one time.

Sebaes have a similar body shape as polymnus but tend to be a little deeper.
The biggest difference is that polymnus (even the brown ones) have dark tails with white tips or sometimes even a complete circle.
Sebaes almost always have a yellow tail. When they do have a black tail, the tips will be yellow or have no tips at all.

Sebaes w/ yellow tails
67981gSebaePair101305.jpg

A little blurry
67981gNewPair2.jpg


One with a black tail (same anemone as pic #1, different pair of sebaes)(I have had two females that started with yellow tails and developed black tails as they got older)
67981gSebaePair2.jpg
 
Didn't want to overlook the anemone :) Nems do best with meaty foods. Shrimp, clam, mussel, silversides, etc....there's a lady on the boards, her screen name is Finding Nemo, she has a great site about bta's, sorry, I can't remember the website, hopefully someone else does :) I thought I had it saved in my favorites, but I didn't see it.
Good luck!
 
thanks phil, I've been using the body shape as a primary differentiator I guess I'll start looking further back.
 
Thanks guys for all the help, they look ok the bullying get less, I fed them and they eat so that is always a good news. The anemone moved behind a rock so now I can't see them very good all my anemones do this in my old tank I had the same problem I think I have some current setting making them prefer the back of the tank. Oh well as long as they are healthy and happy I am ok.
 
I believe it's PRICE.
Whenever it gets labeled as Black and White Perculas, the
price is usually JACK UP $10.00 - $20.00 more.

Beng
 
Re: OT

Re: OT

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8120100#post8120100 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SuperNerd
Sorry to butt in but exaclty why do LFSs habitually misidentify them as "black and white perculas?"
That is one of the names used on the wholesale lists they buy from.

fwiw: common names are typically used on the wholesale lists.

The bigger question is why won't folks use a species name for clowns since they can be so difficult to differentiate in conversation using common names ;>)
 
Sam, I know you will disagree, but your fish is a clarki. It is unusual in that its mid-stripe extends into the back part of the dorsal fin, but the body shape, the tail band, the color and shape of the tail, and the overall body color rule it out as A. sebae.
 
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