The nosestripe clownfish or nosestripe anemonefish, skunk clownfish, ''Amphiprion akallopisos'', is an

anemonefish Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus '' Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus '' Amphiprion''. In the wild, t ...

(also called clownfish) that lives in association with

sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

s. ''A. akallopisos'' is found in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. It resides in shallow inshore reefs as deep as 15 m with a moderate to strong current. The skunk clownfish can also be kept in captivity by

aquarists Fishkeeping is a popular hobby, practiced by aquarists, concerned with keeping fish in a home aquarium or garden pond. There is also a piscicultural fishkeeping industry, serving as a branch of agriculture. Origins of fishkeeping Fish have ...

Description

The skunk clownfish is identified by a light orange color, with a single, narrow, white stripe running from the mouth to the

caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

, and can grow as large as 11 cm in lengt

Like other anemonefish, the skunk clownfish is a Hermaphrodite, protandrous hermaphrodite, and maintains a hierarchy within the host anemone that consists of a mating pair, of which the female is the largest, and non-mating males which get progressively smaller in size.

Color variations

''A. akallopisos'' does not have a

melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...

variation when associated with ''Stichodactyla mertensii'' unlike some other species of anemonefish, including ''A. chrysogaster'', ''A. chrysopterus'', ''A. clarkii'' and ''A. tricinctus''.

Territorial behaviors

The skunk clownfish, and other clownfish, use sound production to defend their territory. This behavior is most common with

damselfish Damselfish are those within the subfamilies Abudefdufinae, Chrominae, Lepidozyginae, Pomacentrinae, and Stegastenae within the family Pomacentridae. Most species within this group are relatively small, with the largest species being about 30 ...

es that produce a wide variety of sounds, a behavior shared with at least 10 species of

. Sounds resembling pops and chirps are most commonly heard when interacting with invading fish of the same species or different species. Studies have shown that it is the female that defends the anemone using sound production, as well as a physical charge when other fishes attempt to enter. ''A. akallopisos'' exhibit three different types of sounds, pops, short chirps, and long chirps, used depending on the type and duration of the encounter, which can also vary by locality.Parmentier, E.; Lagardère, J. P.; Vandewalle, P.; Fine, M. L. 2005. "Geographical variation in sound production in the anemonefish Amphiprion akallopisos." Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biology. Vol. 272:1697-1703.

Similar species

The mid-dorsal stripe and absence of head and body bars distinguishes ''A. akallopisos'' from most anemonefish except the orange anemonefish '' A. sandaracinos'' and they have an overlapping distribution around

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. The skunk anemonefish has a narrower stripe that does not reach the upper lip. ''A. sandaracinos'', as its common name suggests, is a bright orange, while ''A. akallopisos'' is paler, tending to be more pink than orange. Image:Amphiprion akallopisos 2010.JPG, ''A. akallopisos'' (Skunk anemonefish) Image:Amphiprion sandaracinos.jpg, ''A. sandaracinos'' (Orange anemonefish) showing the broader white stripe extending to the upper lip.

Distribution and habitat

''A. akallopisos'' is found in the

from

and the

Java Sea The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...

, western and southern coasts of

, the west coast of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and north to the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

west to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands or Comoros ( Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northw ...

and

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

Host anemones

Usually commensal with the sea anemones: *''

Heteractis magnifica ''Heteractis magnifica'', also known by the common names magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of sea anemone belonging to the Stichodactylidae family native to the Indo-Pacific area. Description The magnificent sea anemone is ...

'' magnificent sea anemone *''

Stichodactyla mertensii ''Stichodactyla mertensii'', commonly known as Mertens' carpet sea anemone, is a species of sea anemones in the family Stichodactylidae. It is regarded as the largest sea anemone with a diameter of over , the next largest being ''Heteractis mag ...

'' Mertens' carpet sea anemone Image:Sea anemone mad 1.JPG, ''A. akallopisos'' with other unidentified fish in ''

''. Image:Skunk Anemonefish - Amphiprion akallopisos.jpg, ''A. akallopisos'' in the magnificent sea anemone ''

''.

References

External links

* * * * Care information for Amphiprion akallopisos * {{Taxonbar, from=Q949111 Amphiprion Fish described in 1853