Clownfish and Damselfish Codexery

Amphiprion

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Amphiprion

Nhobgood Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0

The genus name comes from Greek amphi, 'on both sides' and prion 'saw', referring to the saw-shaped edges along the operculum and under the eyes.[1][2] The genus Amphiprion, whose name derives from Greek words meaning "on both sides" and "saw", was established by Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider in 1801 with the red saddleback anemonefish designated as the type species, and clownfish belong to the damselfish family Pomacentridae.[1] Before 2025, the recognized clownfish count was 28 living species plus two hybrids (the white-bonnet clownfish and Thielle's clownfish), but in 2025 the Polynesian anemonefish (A. maohiensis) was added as a new species.[3]

Amphiprion ocellaris (Clown anemonefish) Nemo
Amphiprion ocellaris (Clown anemonefish) Nemo. Image: Nhobgood Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderBlenniiformes
  6. FamilyPomacentridae
  7. GenusAmphiprion

Named by Bloch & Schneider, 1801

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Clownfish (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Coined by
Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider
Type species
red saddleback anemonefish
Maximum size
160 mm (maroon clownfish)
Minimum size
80 mm (orange clownfish)

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

The clownfish lineage diverged from other living damselfishes around 35 million years ago during the late Eocene.[4] A total of ten sea anemone species are used by clownfish as hosts.[5] Clark's anemonefish is the most generalised species and utilises all ten anemone species.[5] According to a 2014 study, the Malay Archipelago waters are where clownfish originated.[4]

Amphiprion ocellaris (Clown anemonefish) by Nick Hobgood
Amphiprion ocellaris (Clown anemonefish) by Nick Hobgood. Image: Nick Hobgood · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Algae, copepods and larval tunicates constitute the planktonic food that makes up the bulk of the omnivorous clownfish diet.[6] Through a process lasting minutes to days involving touching, nipping and fanning the tentacles, clownfish acclimate to sea anemones with which they share a mutualistic and symbiotic relationship.[7] Typically, a breeding female and male together with some non-breeding individuals form the group of clownfish that occupies an anemone.[8] Protandrous sequential hermaphroditism occurs in male clownfish, who transform into a female after the previous female is lost.[9]

Clownfish have a lifespan exceeding 20 years, with the orange clownfish believed to live as long as 30 years.[10]

What the specialist sources record

The Fautin 1991 publication states that the 26 species of anemonefishes are obligate symbionts of 10 species of sea anemones.[11] A 2004 article in E The Environmental Magazine noted a marked increase in clownfish sales since the movie Finding Nemo.[12] The same article quotes a sales manager describing ORA as "the world's largest supplier of Nemos".[12] The World Register of Marine Species records Amphiprion as an accepted genus in family Pomacentridae, with environment marine and brackish.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tang, "Systematics of Damselfishes", Ichthyology & Herpetology, May 2021, p. 258; Colleye, O.; Iwata, E.; Parmentier, E. "Clownfishes" in pp. 303, 306; Allen 1975b, p. 36; "Genera that contain: amphiprion", researcharchive.calacademy.org; Colleye, O.; Iwata, E.; Parmentier, E. "Clownfishes" in p. 306; Nicolas Bailly, "Amphiprion Bloch & Schneider, 1801" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allen 1975b, p. 36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Preface" in p. xii (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: McCord, "Phylogeny of the damselfishes (Pomacentridae) and patterns of asymmetrical diversification in body size and feeding ecology", PLOS ONE, 2021; Gaboriau, "Host use drives convergent evolution in clownfish", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2025; Litsios, "The radiation of the clownfish has two geographical replicates", Journal of Biogeography, 2014, p. 2140–2149; McCord, "Phylogeny of the damselfishes (Pomacentridae) and patterns of asymmetrical diversification in body size and feeding ecology", PLOS ONE, 2021; Litsios, en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hoepner, C. M.; Fobert, E. K.; Abbott, C. A.; da Silva, K. B. "No Place Like Home: Can Omics Uncover the Secret Behind the Sea Anemone and Anemonefish Symbiotic; Allen 1975b, p. 36; Hayashi, "Anemonefish aggressiveness affects the presence of Dascyllus trimaculatus co-existing with host anemones", Marine Biology, 2020, p. 84 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allen 1975b, p. 36; Fautin Allen 1992, p. 98, 114 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allen 1975b, p. 36; Colleye, O.; Iwata, E.; Parmentier, E. "Clownfishes" in pp. 312–313; Hoepner, C. M.; Fobert, E. K.; Abbott, C. A.; da Silva, K. B. "No Place Like Home: Can Omics Uncover the Secret behind the Sea Anemone and Anemonefish Symbiotic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Beldade, R.; Bernardi, G.; Mills, S. C. "Anemonefish Behavior and Reproduction" in p. 130; Buston, "A new perspective on size hierarchies in nature: patterns, causes, and consequences", Oecologia, 2006, p. 362–372; Buston, "Forcible eviction and prevention of recruitment in the clown anemonefish", Behavioral Ecology, 2003, p. 576–582; Buston, "A new perspective on size hierarchies in nature: patterns, causes, and consequences", Oecologia, 2006, p. 362–372; Buston, "Are clownfish groups composed of close relatives? An analysis of microsatellit en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Beldade, R.; Bernardi, G.; Mills, S. C. "Anemonefish Behavior and Reproduction" in p. 130; Buston, "Territory inheritance in clownfish", Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2004, p. S252–S254; Buston, "Territory inheritance in clownfish", Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2004, p. S252–S254; Branconi, "Ecological and social constraints combine to promote evolution of non-breeding strategies in clownfish", Communications Biology, 2020, p. 649; Buston, "Forcible eviction and prevention of recruitment en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Casas, L.; Parker, C. G.; Rhodes, J. S. "Sex Change from Male to Female: Active Feminization of the Brain, Behavior, and Gonads in Anemonefish" in pp. 119, 122–; Mutalipassi, M.; Tozzini, E. T.; Cellerino, A. "Age and Longevity" in pp. 79–80; Buston, "An extraordinary life span estimate for the clown anemonefish Amphiprion percula", Journal of Fish Biology, 2007, p. 1710–1719 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Fautin, "The anemonefish symbiosis: what is known and what is not", Symbiosis, 1991, p. 23–46. facts only, no text reused. kuscholarworks.ku.edu
  12. "Buying Nemo", E The Environmental Magazine, 29 July 2004. facts only, no text reused. emagazine.com
  13. World Register of Marine Species, Amphiprion (AphiaID 205723). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Clownfish (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Clownfish and Damselfish

Fusilier damselfishGaribaldi (fish)Maroon clownfishPomacentrinaeAmphiprion akindynosAmphiprion akallopisosAmphiprion barberiOrange-fin anemonefishAmphiprion chagosensisAmphiprion chrysogasterCinnamon clownfishClark's anemonefish

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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