Some of the designer onyx will maintain their black, like the wild black ocellaris from Darwin.
But wild onyx percula will loose their black pretty much for sure. And likely also most designers that don't go back to certain selectively bred onyx lines like the ones from C-Quest.
In the wild you will never find onyx percula in a magnifica. Actually all percula you find in a magnifica in the wild have nearly no black at all. Just check all the photos and videos you easily find online if you don't believe me.
That alone would be already pretty good evidence.
Now there are two things that may play into this:
1. influence of the anemone's chemical signature on the clownfish's appearance.
It is well known with several species of clownfish that they change color when moved to a different anemone species. A. clarkii is one of the best examples.
2. Imprinting of the chemical signature of the anemone species the parents live in onto the larva which then preferably selects the same type of anemone.
There is some research done on this and it seems more than plausible that this would lead to different genetic strains within a species.
It would to some point explain why certain strains of ocellaris or percula won't develop much black even when hosted by a carpet anemone, while others get almost completely black (besides the white bars of course).
In general all wild and most captive observations of this effect on percula support my point, while the only percula that are maintaining black are highly selected captive bred designer strains.
With all due respect,
You mention studies backing your statement, but dont cite them, or offer a link to them. Everything else you posted was either anecdotal observation, or opinion.
I have a sample size of one...which is statistically non existent, but it does disprove your statement that A.percula loses color in H.magnifica anemones. There have others as well who have posted that they have H.magnifica anemones hosting A.percula clowns which have not lost color. Again, anecdotal reports statistically non existant, but still disproving your statement.
I dont pretend to know or understand exactly what causes clowns to change colors or what was the actual cause of my clowns going from black to brown to black again, all while being hosted by a healthy H.magnifica anemone. I assume it was food related, but might very well be due to something else entirely.
This particular anemone has been in my care since Mar 2006. It is brown based, with yellow tipped tentacles, and the tentacles are rounded/clubbed vs long and finger like with the tentacle tips being more tapered/pointed. This anemone also has a very potent sting and will burn me if i brush up against it. I dont have particularly sensitive skin and my other two H.magnifica anemones dont burn me at all. They are also purple based with purple tipped tentacles that are long and tapered.
I mention all of this because Minh,(Orion), mentioned he suspected at least two different sub species of H.magnifica due go the differences in tentacle tips.
So, with my anemones... Is it the fact that the tencles are purple tipped, tapered, or the anemones themselves are purple based that causes their nematocysts to be weaker/less painful to me? The yellow tipped anemone and one of my purple tipped anemones have both killed and eaten previously healthy fish in my tank, yet the purple tipped one doesnt burn me. Why not? Is it because of the tentacle tip coloration, (does the color of the tentacles affect the shape/potency of the nematocysts?), the tentacle tip shape,(does the shape of the tentacles affect the shape/potency of the nematocysts?), or does the color of the base affect the potency of the nematocysts?
If any of the above are true,(and I dont think they are, I'm using all of that as an example), then how do we explain how my Onyx Percs are still maintaining their black in one of the purple based, purple tipped, tapered tentacled H.magnifica anemones? Before you state that my Rod's Onyx Percs are probably sourced from C-Quest's lines of Onyx Percs, (I've heard rumors of this, but Rod himself has never confirmed this to my knowledge), how do you explain the fact that mine HAVE changed color in the past and browned out for several months and have since gone dark black again?
In your Solomon Island Perc thread, you told me to look up Fautin and Allen's book on clownfish. I did so and went through it and pointed out that even they had no conclusive answers and were careful to point out that they observed certain anemone species appeared to cause certain species of clownfish to darken in color. The anemones listed by Fautin & Allen where darker clowns were observed in the wild were S.mertensii, S. gigantea, and H. crispa.
I've been reefkeeping since 1986 and a member here since 2003 yet have never once read of an incident where an H.crispa has killed a fish from its nematocysts. In fact I've never heard of any reports where an H.crispa anemone has ever been mentioned as having a powerful or painful sting. I've read about divers being painfully burned/stung after bushing up against an S. mertensii in the wild,(burns occurred where skin was not protected by a wetsuit), and of aquarists being burned/stung by S. gigantea, S. haddonii, and H.magnifica, but never by H. crispa. Yet this one of the anemones reported to contain melanistic clowns in the wild?
I've also read about the P. imperator killed by the crocea clam ,(
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-08/totm/ ),and the damsel killed and eaten by the Trachyphyllia coral:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2156961, but I have not ever found anything other than anecdotal observations and opinions such as yours that H.magnifica anemones cause clownfish that were previously dark to lighten up in color.
My point in all of this is not to bash you or start an internet squabble, (which is why I dropped in your other thread as I didnt want to derail your thread any further as you were posting valuable and useful information with regard to clowns and the treatments you were using), but rather to point out that you are claiming something as a fact when it's not. There is not currently any factual cause as to what makes some clowns darken in some anemones. To state otherwise is to promote a misunderstanding and false information.
If it can be proven that H.magnifica does in fact cause clownfish to lighten in color, then I will happily start a thread publicly apologizing to you.
Again, you are a very knowledgable reef keeper have alot of useful information to share, and I look forward to more of your posts and picking up more from you, but I disagree with you in this matter.
