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kdpuffer
06-07-2008, 06:31 PM
so i have been reading and asking questions and am kinda spun here. clown fish it seems are bizarre little creatures. i have been told all are female and once dominance is established the subdominant fish does a little jerry springer style sex change and turns male. i also have heard that they start as a larva and after a week or so "metamorpihisize" like a freakin power ranger or something and wham you got a clownfish. what the heck are they fish or insects. i am used to cichlids where they lay eggs, eggs hatch, and you have fish that grow into bigger fish. any clarification would be greatly appreciated. thanks

Der_Iron_Chef
06-07-2008, 06:36 PM
I took this directly from RC:

Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites. Clownfish are hatched sexually immature or in other words sexless, neither male or female. This in the simplest of terms means that they change from sexless to male to female. This is a one way trip; sexless to male never to sexless again and male to female never to male again. They may spend their entire life as a sexually immature fish depending on their environment.

For a clownfish to change sex two requirements must be met. First the fish must be physically mature (12-24 months old) and must have an environmental cue to transform. The cue to become a female is the lack of a female in the environment. The cue to become male is that a dominate female is present in the environment, but the environment is lacking a male. The cue to remain sexless is that the environment has an existing dominate female and male pair.

kdpuffer
06-07-2008, 06:41 PM
alright that helps alot but i read that they metamorphisize at about 1 week old what is that all about and do they actually have a pupa similar to say a butterfly. do you know where i could look it up and maybe see pictures i find it very interesting that a fish is like an insect

justinl
06-07-2008, 06:49 PM
the metamorphosis you are referring to is also called settlement. That is when a fish larva (which is still a fish, not insect) "metamorphoses" into something that actually looks similar to a miniature adult of the species and loses its photoactivity; most fish larvae are photoactic which just means they are attracted to the light. I think you are confused because of the terminology. A fish larva is nothing like an insect larva really, it's just a broad term for "baby".

Der_Iron_Chef
06-07-2008, 06:52 PM
Clownfish will often spawn and lay eggs regularly. When the eggs hatch, they are larva (http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=8115&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500), a newly-hatched fish which has not yet emerged from the nesting area. They will have a noticeable yolk sac, and need this yolk sac while their digestive systems are developing. At this stage, the fish are not prepared to hunt live prey, and are completely dependent on the yolk sacs. A fry (http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=9141&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500) is a recently-hatched fish, one which has fully absorbed its yolk sac and can now hunt and consume live food. (wikipedia.org)

I wouldn't say they are like insects, though.

kdpuffer
06-07-2008, 07:02 PM
thanks guys i googled it aswell and your right not even close to an insect LOL the terminology threw me off there i have it all clear now thanks again. one more thing though my oscelleris clown is solitary in the tank with two anenomes a kenya tree and an xenia but he chooses to hang out in the top back corner of the tank usually facing down hugging the back wall. is there anyway to "help" him find a host anenome or will i have to wait and hope he is not the "special" one. i am in the process of trying to aquire another oscelleris think maybe the other fish might help show him the way?

Der_Iron_Chef
06-07-2008, 07:13 PM
Getting clowns to host in an anemone/coral is random and there's not really much you yourself can do. Previous to adding another clownfish, though, I would read up on THIS (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=215098). :)

kdpuffer
06-07-2008, 07:34 PM
that was helpful. now i have an oscelleris about 3/4 to an inch long, the one i may be getting is about 1 1/2 inches, about what size do they actually become mature and develop the specific organs what do you think the chances are that mine is still undeveloped

kdpuffer
06-07-2008, 10:00 PM
anyone have some sort of rough idea on size to age comparisons, the reading i have done says they will become mature and make the switch at 12-24 months old how big is a 12 month old oscelleris clown and how old do you think my 3/4-1" clown is

kdpuffer
06-16-2008, 12:52 PM
bump