Perc's getting black patches ?

[SnoopDog]

As the months go by I notice my Perc's are getting some patches of black on there orange. These are supposed to be a set of True Percs male/female. Is this normal. It is definitely natural and not a disease.

 

[pathos]

yes that's what separates true percs from false percs. true percs have more black color between their stripes. also the fins have a bolder black outline. mated pair eh?, nice

 

[SnoopDog]

So are these true percs ?? These back spots showing up are irregular and kind of make the fish.....umm uglier ?? Is this normal for true percs ???

 

[pathos]

yes man, sounds to me like you have a mated pair of true percula clowns

 

[Ben1]

I dont think you are talking about the black stripes right? You are talking about small irregular black spots showing up all over the orange bars correct. If so this isnt how you tell the difference in Ocillaris and Percula. I am not sure wether it is a problem though

 

[AnotherGoldenTeapot]

If it's a problem then I suspect it will not be fatal.

My clown has *symptoms* along the lines you're talking about. It has been like that for a very long time - at least three years.

 

[Baalz]

My Ocellaris female has black splotches and my male doesnt.. they host in my frogspawn so i assumed it was from that

 

[Anonymous]

I have an ocellaris clown that got black patches/blotches all over the orange bits (the white stripes have remained pure white) shortly after he adopted a rock covered with zoanthids. I was speculating that he was reacting to either the zoanthids or the bristleworms that live on the rock as well.

He's had these blotches for over a year (poor guy!). He seems perfectly happy and healthy otherwise. Has anyone been able to treat this condition?

jayo

 

[XXX]

My male has had black blotches for the last year. My female does not have them.

 

[NoriMuncher]

I have a possible answer to this one. I had a false perc that got those spots soon after I upgraded my lights. The boss at my favorite LFS (don't laugh, this guy's actually knowledgeable and trustworthy) says he's noticed the same thing, thinks its similar to a tan. Tell me, are there more dark spots on the top of the fish(towards the light) than the bottom?

 

[Anonymous]

My clown is darkest under his chin, other than that the mottling is pretty even over his body.

It's weird that only the orange is affected - are the white stripes a different type of skin from the orange on a clown?

jayo

 

[mzem]

Hey guys, What's being described here appears to be a type of melanism. This is where the clown may get dark spots or splotches in typically orange or yellow colored area. This is in reaction to their hosts and is not the same as the geographical or sex related color variations. Not all clowns will do this and not in every host. I have seen this first hand with my clarki clown. When we got him he was typical clarki black and yellow-orange. Once he took to our frogspawn as a host his yellow-orange areas started to get black spots in them. These spots all varied in size as well. After a tank move the clarki abandoned his frogspawn and moved to some hairy mushrooms as a new host. Shortly after doing so the black spots started to fade. He is now back to the typical clarki clown coloration. If anyone wants a reference, this is described in "Anemone Fishes and their Host Sea Anemones" by Gerald R Allen. This may not be the answer but it sounds like melanism to me. HTH!

mzem

 

[MedicineMan1]

I have a Clarkii clown that had some of its fin bit off by a tank mate whos fin grew back as black. Perhaps this is a sign of some kind of trauma?