Orange skunk clownfish

Orange skunk clownfish
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Superclass: Pisces
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Pomacentridae
Subfamily: Amphiprioninae
Genus: Amphiprion
Species: A. sandaracinos
Binomial name
Amphiprion sandaracinos

Amphiprion sandaracinos, also known as the Orange skunk clownfish or Golden anemonefish, is a marine fish belonging to the family Pomacentridae which gathers clownfishes and damselfishes.[2]

Description

The orange skunk clownfish is a small sized fish which grows up to 11 cm as a female and 3 to 6.5 cm as a male.[3] Its body has a stock appearance, oval shape, compressed laterally and with a round profile.[4] Its coloration is very bright orange, with a white stripe on the dorsal ridge from the superior lip, passing between the eyes and ending at the caudal fin base.[3] All the fins have the same coloration as the body except the dorsal fin which is partially white. Its iris is bright yellow.[5]

Distribution

The orange skunk clownfish is found in the center of the Indo-Pacific area,[6] especially by the Philippines and Christmas Island.[3] Other known locations include Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Melanesia, and north to southern Japan.[7]

Habitat

Amphiprion sandaracinos typically lives in small groups on outer reef slopes or in lagoons at a maximal depth of 20 metres (66 ft). It inhabits in association with two different species of sea anemones. It's often observed in Stichodactyla mertensii and rarely in Heteractis crispa.[8]

Feeding

This anemonefish is omnivorous and its diet is based on zooplankton, small benthic crustaceans and algaes.[9]

Behaviour

Amphiprion sandaracinos has a diurnal activity. It is protrandous hermaphrodite, which means the male can turn into a female during his life, and lives in harem in which an established dominance hierarchy manages the group and keeps individuals at a specific social rank. It has also an aggressive territorial behaviour and it is completely dependant from its sea anemone which represents its "life insurance" as a safe shelter for the group and for the nest.[10]

The associative relationship that binds the clownfish and the sea anemone is called mutualism. In one hand, the fish lives within the sea anemone's tentacles and uses it as a shelter because it has developed a fin layer of mucus which covers its body as a protection against the stinging anemone's tentacles. On the other hand, the presence of the clownfish can be interpreted as a lure to attract potential anemone's preys close to the tentacles. And the clownfish can also defend the anemone against some reef fishes which could eat the tentacles.[11]

In aquaria

Orange skunk clownfish are kept by many people for the aquarium hobby.

References

  1. ↑ Curtis-Quick (2010). "Amphiprion sandaracinos". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  2. ↑ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/summary/154812/0
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Tristan Lougher (2006). What Fish?: A Buyer's Guide to Marine Fish. Interpet Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-84286-118-9. An attractive fish species, identifiable by the single broad stripe running along its back from the upper jaw to the base of the tail.
  4. ↑ Lieske & Myers,Coral reef fishes,Princeton University Press, 2009, ISBN 9780691089959
  5. ↑ http://eol.org/pages/212621/details
  6. ↑ http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Amphiprion-sandaracinos.html
  7. ↑ Dianne J. Bray, 2011, Orange Anemonefish, Amphiprion sandaracinos, in Fishes of Australia, accessed 25 Aug 2014, http://www.fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1278
  8. ↑ Fautin & Dr Allen ’’Field guide to anemonefishes and their host sea anemones’’, Western Australian Museum,1992, ISBN 9781564651181
  9. ↑ http://eol.org/pages/212621/details
  10. ↑ http://eol.org/pages/212621/details
  11. ↑ http://eol.org/pages/212621/details

External links