onyx?
- Thread starter _shorty_
- Start date
D-Nak
Active member
The term Onyx Percula was originated by Bill Addison at C-Quest. Only those fish with a lineage of the original C-Quest clowns can be called Onyx Perculas.
However, these days the term "onyx" commonly refers to the melanistic form of perculas where the body contains a lot of black, specifically filling in the body between the first and second stripe, as well as the second and third stripe. Some people also believe that in order to qualify as "onyx" the fish must also have a black dorsal, but this is up for debate.
There are some descendants of the original Onyx Clowns that are still called Onyx -- Rod's Onyx and Booyahs come to mind.
Furthermore, there have been wild onyx clowns, as well as other onyx clowns bred from these wild varieties that are called onyx clowns (notice I don't capitalize it).
Lately I've also seen the distinction of "super onyx" and "premium onyx" where the tail is completely black. I personally like the balance of orange and black on the original Onyx, where the head and tail still have a decent amount of orange. In other words, if this were a competition and were a judge, I personally would downgrade a clown that had a black tail since I believe an Onyx Percula should have an orange tail. Too much black and they start looking like Darwins. But again, that's just my personal opinion. Since we don't have an actual set of "laws" to follow, as we do with koi for example, this will continually be up for debate -- and the range of prices will reflect personal opinion on worth.
However, these days the term "onyx" commonly refers to the melanistic form of perculas where the body contains a lot of black, specifically filling in the body between the first and second stripe, as well as the second and third stripe. Some people also believe that in order to qualify as "onyx" the fish must also have a black dorsal, but this is up for debate.
There are some descendants of the original Onyx Clowns that are still called Onyx -- Rod's Onyx and Booyahs come to mind.
Furthermore, there have been wild onyx clowns, as well as other onyx clowns bred from these wild varieties that are called onyx clowns (notice I don't capitalize it).
Lately I've also seen the distinction of "super onyx" and "premium onyx" where the tail is completely black. I personally like the balance of orange and black on the original Onyx, where the head and tail still have a decent amount of orange. In other words, if this were a competition and were a judge, I personally would downgrade a clown that had a black tail since I believe an Onyx Percula should have an orange tail. Too much black and they start looking like Darwins. But again, that's just my personal opinion. Since we don't have an actual set of "laws" to follow, as we do with koi for example, this will continually be up for debate -- and the range of prices will reflect personal opinion on worth.
_shorty_
New member
First, thank you for that explanation!... but hmm. They are mainly perculas then?
Would the clowns (even ocellaris) that have darker backs that fade down to orange at the belly potentially be considered an 'onyx' color then? Or something else entirely?
For example, what would you call the orange and white snowflake in this video? I appologize that the quality is not great, but it's all I have at the moment. I can try to get a better still picture tonight if I think about it. I don't know if she was WC or tank bred.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/w_9UHhbIbxI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Would the clowns (even ocellaris) that have darker backs that fade down to orange at the belly potentially be considered an 'onyx' color then? Or something else entirely?
For example, what would you call the orange and white snowflake in this video? I appologize that the quality is not great, but it's all I have at the moment. I can try to get a better still picture tonight if I think about it. I don't know if she was WC or tank bred.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/w_9UHhbIbxI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
D-Nak
Active member
I personally would only refer to onyx clowns as perculas. I don't recall seeing ocellaris with a lot of black, only black and white ocellaris.
In the video, it looks like one Darwin (black and white ocellaris) and a snowflake (ocellaris) but I'm not very good at IDing "designer" clowns especially the ocellaris variety (I tend to stick with percula). I think the offspring could be black ice snowflakes, but again, I could be wrong. Sorry I can't offer conclusive advice. There are so many variants these days that it's hard to keep track. For example, “Onyx” A. percula and a “Snowflake” A. ocellaris can produce a "Snow Onyx". This is not the case here, since both appear to be ocellaris, but again, it's inconclusive.
In the video, it looks like one Darwin (black and white ocellaris) and a snowflake (ocellaris) but I'm not very good at IDing "designer" clowns especially the ocellaris variety (I tend to stick with percula). I think the offspring could be black ice snowflakes, but again, I could be wrong. Sorry I can't offer conclusive advice. There are so many variants these days that it's hard to keep track. For example, “Onyx” A. percula and a “Snowflake” A. ocellaris can produce a "Snow Onyx". This is not the case here, since both appear to be ocellaris, but again, it's inconclusive.
_shorty_
New member
Thank you D-Nak. Ya - I am gearing up to raise the current batch of eggs for the first time and am starting to get excited 1) to try my hand at raising some fishies!, and 2) to see what this pair produces. It should be a neat experience. I guess I was getting to the point where I am wondering what the parents are called, so that I might better know what the offspring MIGHT be (in anticipation).. I saw a supplier that had what they called 'black ice' that didn't look much different than my female. Then others I've seen are almost all black with premium snowflake patterns (which are pretty slick looking).
My female's snowflake pattern isn't 'premium' by any means, but i bought her because I thought she was a pretty fish. I like the dark to orange transition in her base color... So, I look forward to seeing what they produce. I also am assuming that this snowflake pattern is probably not a very dominant trait but I might get a couple with the snowflake pattern. So the base color was what I was really trying to figure out - when I realized I did not understand what 'onyx' meant, even though I had previously assumed its meaning.
You'd say she's definitely ocellaris, though? I've always assumed she is and think that's what the LFS posted her as. Thank you for the info and feedback! I can try to post a better pic of her soon if anyone would like to take a closer look at her and give me an opinion of what they'd call her.
My female's snowflake pattern isn't 'premium' by any means, but i bought her because I thought she was a pretty fish. I like the dark to orange transition in her base color... So, I look forward to seeing what they produce. I also am assuming that this snowflake pattern is probably not a very dominant trait but I might get a couple with the snowflake pattern. So the base color was what I was really trying to figure out - when I realized I did not understand what 'onyx' meant, even though I had previously assumed its meaning.
You'd say she's definitely ocellaris, though? I've always assumed she is and think that's what the LFS posted her as. Thank you for the info and feedback! I can try to post a better pic of her soon if anyone would like to take a closer look at her and give me an opinion of what they'd call her.
bues0022
New member
Great explaination D-Nak!
I don't know if I have heard of a specific name for the color you are referring to. It seems to me that some ocellaris get a "sun tan" in some higher light tanks. I don't believe this is necessarily a "designer" any further than your snowflake (to my knowledge at least).
I don't know if I have heard of a specific name for the color you are referring to. It seems to me that some ocellaris get a "sun tan" in some higher light tanks. I don't believe this is necessarily a "designer" any further than your snowflake (to my knowledge at least).
D-Nak
Active member
I'd call it normal. I've seen quite a few ocellaris with that "dirty" look.
JustinGr
Clown Pimp
I've seen a lot of percs with the same "onyx" look listed as Solomon Island percs, so it's really hard to identify a true "onyx" from a Solomon Island.
From: http://web.augsburg.edu/~capman/aquaria/SpecialTopicsFiles/f_Clownfish_Perc_w_eggs.html
From: http://web.augsburg.edu/~capman/aquaria/SpecialTopicsFiles/f_Clownfish_Perc_w_eggs.html
