[nyumpa]

i got a new baby Tomato Clown on saturday, he look perfect in the store
on saturday. on sunday he came out to eat some shrimp and he again look
perfect but he was swimming very close to my torch coral.
about an hour later there was a white mark under his fin, the exact same
of the tip of the torch. can this be possible?

[Deanos]

Yes.

[PalmTree]

My clowns use to host on a torch. I guess it is possible but I never saw any problems.

[ellebelle]

I guess it's possible for the clownfish to be marked if the clownfish weren't acclimated to the torch. However, clownfish have a thick mucus on their skin that protect them from stinging anemones - that's the reason they can host them. I mean, clownfish can host carpet anemones.... those pack a stronger punch than a torch coral, I would think.

[Deanos]

I've read alot about the clown's mucus covering and how it protects the fish from becoming stung by an anemone. One train of thought is that it "catches" the nematocytes protecting the clown. Another train of thought is that the mucus prevents the firing of the nematocytes through some undiscovered chemical reaction.

Personally, I believe the second. With all the continuous rubbing a clown does, the anemone would continually need to produce more nematocytes just to capture any prey or protect itself from predators. That seems like it would divert the anemone's focus from growth and reproduction and change the symbiosis from mutualism to commensalism.

Perhaps when a clown chooses to live among the tentacles of a coral, the mucus protects the clown from most of the sting of the coral, but some nematocytes get through causing damage.

[digitalreefer]

Actually, the symbiotic relationship in nature is that the clownfish feeds and offers some protection to the anemone, and in turn the anemone protects the clownfish. In our aquariums, the clowns do not always feed the anemone and it is less of a symbiotic relationship.

[ellebelle]

The word you looking for is commensalism - when one organism benefits and the other is receives neither benefit or harm.

[Deanos]

Quote: Originally Posted by digitalreefer Actually, the symbiotic relationship in nature is that the clownfish feeds and offers some protection to the anemone, and in turn the anemone protects the clownfish.

Actually? The relationship you describe above is called mutualism as I stated.

[ellebelle]

He's saying that in our aquariums, the anemone doesn't really benefit from the clownfish because they don't always feed the anemones, or attract other fish for the anemone to eat. So, the clownfish benefits and the anemone doesn't, so it would be more commensualistic.

(Of course, if we thought about it even further, we could say that the anemone is only really helping the clown in the case of a very aggressive tank mate. )

But none of this solves the question of why a torch can sting a clown.

[Deanos]

Quote: Originally Posted by ellebelle The word you looking for is commensalism - when one organism benefits and the other is receives neither benefit or harm.