The tomato clownfish (''Amphiprion frenatus'') is a species of

marine fish Saltwater fish, also called marine fish or sea fish, are fish that live in seawater. Saltwater fish can swim and live alone or in a large group called a school. Saltwater fish are very commonly kept in aquariums for entertainment. Many saltwater f ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Pomacentridae Pomacentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. This family were formerly placed in the order Perciformes but are now regarded as being ''incertae sedis'' in the subseries Ovalentaria in the clade Perco ...

, the

clownfish 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, th ...

es and

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. It is native to the waters of the Western Pacific, from the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

.Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Editors
''Amphiprion frenatus''.
FishBase. 2015. Other common names include blackback anemonefish, bridled anemonefish, fire clown, and red tomato clown.Common names of ''Amphiprion frenatus''.
FishBase. 2015.

Characteristics of anemonefish

Clownfish or anemonefish are

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

es that, in the wild, form

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

mutualisms 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 and are unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone, see . The sea anemone protects the clownfish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals and occasional dead anemone tentacles. In return, the clownfish defends the anemone from its predators, and parasites. Clownfish are small-sized, , and depending on species, they are overall yellow, orange, or a reddish or blackish color, and many show white bars or patches. Within species there may be color variations, most commonly according to distribution, but also based on sex, age and host anemone. Clownfish are found in warmer waters of the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

oceans and the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

in sheltered

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s or in shallow

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

s. In a group of clownfish, there is a strict

dominance hierarchy In biology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social animal , social groups interact, creating a ranking system. A dominant higher-ranking i ...

. The largest and most aggressive fish is female and is found at the top. Only two clownfish, a male and a female, in a group reproduce through

external fertilization External fertilization is a mode of reproduction in which a male organism's sperm fertilizes a female organism's egg outside of the female's body. It is contrasted with internal fertilization, in which sperm are introduced via insemination and then ...

. Clownfish are

sequential hermaphrodites Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

, meaning that they develop into males first, and when they mature, they become females.

Description

The adult fish is bright orange-red, with a white head bar or vertical stripe just behind the eyes, joined over the head and with a distinctive black outline. Females are mainly blackish on the sides. Males are considerably smaller and are red overall. Juveniles are a darker red, with two or three white bars. They have 9-10 dorsal spines, 2 anal spines, 16-18 dorsal soft rays and 13-15 anal soft rays. They reach a maximum length of .

Color variations

The only color variation is sex related with females having darker coloration or dark spots on their sides.

Similar species

The

Australian clownfish ''Amphiprion rubrocinctus'', also known as the Australian clownfish or red anemonefish, is a species of anemonefish that is endemic to north west Australia. Like all anemonefishes it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffe ...

(''A. rubrocinctus'') has a similar coloration, however the female does not have the distinctive black outline of the white band, the band is poorly developed and may be discontinuous on top of the head. Geographic location is the easiest way to distinguish small juveniles as they are otherwise difficult to distinguish. The

cinnamon clownfish ''Amphiprion melanopus'', also known as the cinnamon clownfish, fire clownfish, red and black anemonefish, black-backed anemonefish or dusky anemonefish is a widely distributed anemonefish chiefly found in the western and southern parts of the Pa ...

(''A. melanopus'') is also similar, but has a broader white headbar and outside

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

it has black pelvic and anal fins. Image:HamaKN.jpg, '' A. frenatus'' (Tomato anemonefish) Image:Amphiprion rubrocinctus RLS.jpg, '' A. rubrocinctus'' (Australian anemonefish) Image:Amphiprion melanopus RLS.jpg, '' A. melanopus'' (Red & Black anemonefish)

Distribution and habitat

This species is found as far north as

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

, to the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

and surrounding areas including

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

. Some authors report that this species is associated with a single species of anemone, the

bubble-tip anemone Bubble-tip anemone (''Entacmaea quadricolor'') is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. Like several anemone species, ''E. quadricolor'' can support several anemonefish species, and displays two growth types based on where they live ...

(''Entacmaea quadricolor''). Other authorities report that it may be associated with the

sebae anemone The sebae anemone (''Heteractis crispa''), also known as leathery sea anemone, long tentacle anemone, or purple tip anemone, is a species of sea anemone belonging to the family Stichodactylidae and native to the Indo-Pacific area. It was firs ...

(''Heteractis crispa''), as well.

In aquaria

As a pet, many marine hobbyists agree that at least of tank volume is necessary for the fish, however others believe larger is necessary for this fish to have ample room for maneuvering. Many hobbyists use a

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

tank prior to introduction into the main tank as it helps to rid the tomato clownfish of saltwater-borne diseases. This species of fish thrives well even without a host anemone. In the absence of a host, it may "adopt" corals of a tank to reside. It will eat most meat or vegetable food preparations, including dried algae, mysis shrimp, and brine shrimp. The tomato clownfish has been reported to be aggressive and territorial when mature, and specimens have been known to be extremely aggressive even towards clownfishes of other species. For this reason, it is best kept singly or in mated pairs. It can be bred in captivity, and the fry can be fed on baby

brine shrimp ''Artemia'' is a genus of aquatic crustaceans also known as brine shrimp. It is the only genus in the family Artemiidae. The first historical record of the existence of ''Artemia'' dates back to the first half of the 10th century AD from Urmia La ...

and

rotifer The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...

References

External links

*
Tomato Clownfish page
at Animal World.

at Stan & Debbie Hauter guide to Saltwater Aquariums.

at Walt and Mimi Miller's Ramblin' Cameras site. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q74366 Amphiprion Fish of the Pacific Ocean Fish of Asia Fish of Oceania Fish described in 1856 Taxa named by J. Carson Brevoort