Reef Aquarium Species Codexery

Orange clownfish

A reef fish that lives symbiotically with sea anemones.

Last updated

It lives in association with sea anemones, using chemical cues from the anemones to locate and identify its host species.[1] This species can grow to 11 cm in length, with an average of 8 cm, and has three white lines across its bright orange body.[2]

Scientific classification

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

Named by (Lacepède, 1802)

Close relatives

Other species of Amphiprion with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Orange clownfish (CC BY-SA 4.0) · differs from this box at order: WoRMS AphiaID 278402 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2017

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Orange clownfish and a personA 0.11 m long orange clownfish drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.11 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.11 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Orange clownfish

Where the orange clownfish has been recorded

Where the orange clownfish has been recorded134 mapped locations from 740 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Great Barrier Reef Marine ParkGreat Barrier Reef Marine Park

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (740 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 30 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Amphiprion percula is associated specifically with the anemones Heteractis magnifica and Stichodactyla gigantea.[1] The fish and its host anemone reside in shallow waters that usually do not exceed 12 m depth, with water temperatures between 25 and 28 °C.[2] A. percula tends to inhabit anemones located in nearshore areas, whereas A. perideraion is more frequently found in anemones situated further from the coast.[3] Predators that consume polyps, along with other threats, are warded off from the anemone by A. percula.[2]

A social group of this fish always contains one breeding pair, and the number of non-breeding individuals ranges from zero up to four.[4] A strict size-based ranking exists in each group: the female holds the largest size, the breeding male is next in size, and the non-breeding males become smaller as rank decreases.[4]

What the specialist sources record

The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy lists Amphiprion percula as described by Lacepède in 1802, with the rank of species and status ACCEPTED.[5] GBIF holds 1,054 occurrence records for this taxon as of 20 October 2026.[5] A 1958 study by Dr. Demorest Davenport and Dr. Kenneth Noris at Marineland of the Pacific revealed that the fish's mucus prevents the anemone from discharging its stinging nematocysts.[6] Research suggests that nonbreeders are simply queuing for the territory occupied by the breeders, i.e. the anemone.[7]

A 2020 paper in Nature stated that reported effects of ocean acidification on coral reef fish behavior are not reproducible.[8] A connection between the timing of spawning and the phases of the moon was identified by one investigation.[9] A breeding female typically holds her position for about twelve years, an unusually long period for a fish of this size.[9]

Biology and change

Protandry is displayed by this species: every individual starts life as a male and will transform into a female only if the single breeding female perishes.[4]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Host selection, location, and association behaviors of anemonefishes in field settlement experiments", Marine Biology, 1995, p. 377–389; Lee, J. 2003. "Amphiprion percula"(Online). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lee, J. 2003. "Amphiprion percula"(Online). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Coexistance of nine anemonefish species: differential host and habitat utilization, size and recruitment", Marine Biology, 2001, p. 23–36 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Buston PM, "Territory inheritance in clownfish", Proc. Biol. Sci., May 2004, p. S252–4 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Amphiprion percula (taxon key 5212094). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mebs D, "Anemonefish Symbiosis: Vulnerability and Resistance of Fish to the Toxin of the Sea Anemone", Toxicon, 1994, p. 1059–1068 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: (Buston, 2004); Buston PM, "Territory inheritance in clownfish", Proc. Biol. Sci., May 2004, p. S252–4; Buston PM, "Territory inheritance in clownfish", Proc. Biol. Sci., May 2004, p. S252–4 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Munday, "Ocean Acidification Impairs Olfactory Discrimination and Homing Ability of a Marine Fish", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009, p. 1848–1852; Clark, "Ocean acidification does not impair the behaviour of coral reef fishes", Nature, 2020, p. 370–375; Enserink, "Does ocean acidification alter fish behavior? Fraud allegations create a sea of doubt", sciencemag.org, May 2021; Clements, "Meta-analysis reveals an extreme "decline effect" in the impacts of ocean acidification on fish b en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Orange clownfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lee, J. 2003. "Amphiprion percula"(Online).; Alava, Veronica R., Gomes, Luiz., "Breeding Marine Aquarium Animals: The Anemonefish. Naga", The ICLARM Quarterly, July 1989, p. 12–13; Buston P, "Does the presence of non-breeders enhance the fitness of breeders? An experimental analysis in the clown anemonefish Amphiprion percula", Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2004, p. 23–31 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Orange 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.

Related entries

Same family (Pomacentridae)

Damselfish Stegastes xanthurus, Azure demoiselle Chrysiptera hemicyanea, Banded sergeant Abudefduf septemfasciatus

Named in this entry

Amphiprion

More in Clownfish & Damselfish

Whitetail dascyllusOcellaris clownfish

Elsewhere in Reef Aquarium Species

Pseudochromis springeri · Gobies, Blennies & BassletsPicasso triggerfish · Other Reef FishPeppermint shrimp · Shrimp, Crabs & UrchinsSarcophyton glaucum · Soft Corals & ZoanthidsThin birdsnest coral · Stony CoralsYellow tang · Tangs & Rabbitfish

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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