rare clowns?

[FishAffair]

Hi all!

I need some help. I recently got this beautiful mated pair of clowns. I was told they were Alardi clowns, but they don't look like the pictures. Could someone please give me an ID on these guys?
Sorry the pics are a bit washed out, was taken with flash on.

Thanks!
Fishaffair

 

[BonsaiNut]

Amphiprion sebae. I would consider this an "uncommon" fish in the trade. You don't see them very often on the West Coast, so I assume they are even more rare the further east you go. Most of them come from India. They look nice, albeit stressed.

 

[JamesJR]

Hmmm.... That is a tough one.... The tail fins have a very interesting color to them that makes them difficult to identify. How big are they?

 

[FishAffair]

The female is 2.75" and the male is 2.25" approx. They are actually eating already and doing great. Just forgot to take a pic before I put them in so had to catch them today. They're in my prop tank so it wasn't a major mission.

I don't think they are sebaes because they don't have a solid yellow tail.

I was told they come from West Africa. The guy I bought them from went on vacation, when he comes back I'll ask him for the name again. I think they're really nice!

I got them and a 2" radiata lionfish a few days ago. So cute! My other radiata Leo is about 6" now and we're probably going to have to find a home for him since we're downsizing our tanks. Very cool fish and I've definately fallen in love with lionfish.

Good luck with the ID, maybe they're a hybrid cause I looked at all the rare clown pics and didn't see them.

Good night!

 

[FishAffair]

Also, the fin underneath their tail fin is black, not yellow.

 

[BonsaiNut]

Do you think they look like this? If you don't want them I'll take them True sebaes are not a common fish around here.

P.S. did your source maybe mean EAST Africa? There aren't any clowns off the West Coast of Africa. However sebaes can certainly be found off the EAST coast - up by the horn and the Red Sea.

 

[JamesJR]

I think BonsaiNut is probably right. I almost guessed they were some form of Clarkii but their tailfins just have a color that I have never seen in a Clarkii. Yeah, Sebae really actually are pretty rare in the fish trade. You will see clownfishes marked as sebae all the time but they are probably Clarkii's. the true sebae is a delicate shipper and in the states we don't get as many of our fish from the indian ocean as we do the pacific.
They are really gorgeous fish! Enjoy!

 

[BonsaiNut]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8384127#post8384127 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JamesJR
You will see clownfishes marked as sebae all the time but they are probably Clarkii's.

Yup. If I had a dollar for every "sebae" clown that wasn't... Pretty soon we'll end up with the whole "false percula / true percula" issue. "Have you seen my True Sebaes ?"

 

[phender]

A. sebae usually isn't collected from the Middle East/Africa, but it does live there. It's very interesting that the Allen pic from the Arabian Sea has the same black and white tail markings as yours. I wonder if all the A. sebae from that area have the tricolored tails? The A. sebae collected in the Sumatra/Java area generally have all yellow tails.
Since neither of your fish are adult size yet, it will be interesting to see if the tail color changes over time.

Congrats on the find.

FWIW: I have had several A. sebae pairs and see them fairly often at the wholesalers over the past 10 years. I have never seen any with the tricolored tails being offered for sale.

 

[FishAffair]

Yes, I guess he said East Africa. ;]

I see. So do you think the tail could change as they get older? They look exactly like Bonsai Nut's picture except their pectoral fins are yellow. I imagine its just a variation. Would be cool to breed them, but I don't have the time or the facilities.

Thanks for the help. Nice to find the right name for them.

Have a great weekend you guys!
FishAffair

 

[FishAffair]

Also, the tail on mine are round instead of wedge shaped like the one in the picture. Looks the same otherwise.

 

[JamesJR]

I think they are really spectacular FishAffair, would you sending me a private message to tell me what they cost? I would love to find a pair like them.

 

[BonsaiNut]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8387102#post8387102 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JamesJR
I think they are really spectacular FishAffair

Yeah, I love sebaes (real ones). For some reason I think that their colors are always really bright - especially the yellow, which is a very deep yellow (almost with a tint of orange) and not pale or brownish.

 

[adtravels]

they are a. sebae 100% (melanistic form). I see them all the time here in thailand along with a.polymnus which are in the same complex.
they are not clarks clowns (my avatar) they host carpet anemones specifically haddoni (saddle anemones).
You can tell by the following features:
slanted second bar that extends into the second dorsalfin.
yellow/mostly yellow tail (some here have the black dot in the tail whereas a.polymnus nearly always have black or black white tail occasionally with a yellow edge).
No third (tail bar) and the body shape is typical of the sebae complex.

Wilkerson says skittish fish (true) and not to switch lights on in the room after lights out (this will stress any fish but these will go bananas).

harder to acclimate good qt procedure and a tank larger than 50 gallons for a pair.

great fish hope they do well.

 

[lawboy888]

true sebae if they are black..i have a pair..