Care
A long-standing favouriteamongst many aquarists, Clark's Clownfish is one of the most sought-afterand durable clownfishes in the aquarium trade. These characterful fish areknown from lagoons and outer reef slopes where they are afforded lifelongprotection from predators and skin parasites by a host anemone. These fish areclosely associated with a number of anemones, including
Cryptodendrum adhaesivum,
Entacmaeaquadricolor (Bubble),
Heteractisaurora (Beaded),
H. crispa (Sebae),
H. magnifica (Ritteri),
H. malu (Malu),
Macrodactyla doreensis (Long Tentacle),
Stichodactyla gigantea (Giant Carpet),
S haddoni (Haddon"™s Carpet), and
S. mertensii (Merten"™s Carpet). In the community reef aquarium, ahost anemone - some of which can be a little tricky to maintain successfully incaptivity - is not necessary for your clownfish as most reef set ups containplenty of hiding places, no large predatory fish, and sometimes cleanershrimp/cleaner wrasse. In the absence of an anemone, some clownfish take upresidence in what they see as a suitable coral substitute - which may causethem to retract in irritation as the clownfish wallow - but this isn"™t alwaysthe case. Many species of clownfish (including Clark's) are nowcaptive-raised, so wherever possible the conscientious aquarist should aim tosource these hardier specimens for the home aquarium, in turn helping to takepressure off the reefs. This is a colourful species, with vivid black, whiteand yellow stripes, though the exact pattern shows considerable geographicalvariation. As these fish can be somewhat territorial, keep only one pair pertank, providing them with ample space and plenty of visual barriers amongst thedécor. It is also best not to mix this species with other species of clownfishas they will fight. With regards to sexing, all clownfish are born as males. Awild colony may consist of a breeding pair, which cohabit with a fewnon-reproductive smaller male specimens. When the female dies, the dominantmale will change sex and become the female. This is known as protandroussequential hermaphroditism. In the case of two juvenile specimens in the homeaquarium, the larger of the two will become the female. Please be aware thatthese fish are very sensitive to treatment with copper remedies.
Feeding
Offer a varied diet includingmeaty items such as Mysis shrimp, chopped krill, vitamin-enriched brineshrimpetc, plus herbivore flakes and greenfoods. Feed small amounts 3 times per day.If living with a symbiotic anemone, many clownfish will share their food withthem.
Breeding
The clownfish will clean asmooth rocky surface (typically a flat wall inside a cave), where between 200and 2500 elliptical amber-coloured eggs will be deposited. These adhere to thesubstrate via fine threads at the ventral pole, and the male will aerate themby fanning them with his pectoral fins whilst guarding against predators. Theeggs will hatch in darkness after 7-10 days, and the larvae typically settleafter another 7 days or so. The tiny fry are left to fend for themselves andshould be fed on suitably tiny foodstuffs such as live rotifers, moving on tobaby brineshrimp after a few days. It is unlikely that fry will survive theattentions of the other fish in a community reef set-up.
