Mixed marriage clown style

[dizzy]

Well one of our black ocellaris babies is pair bonding with one of our true percula babies. I got in two rose bubble tip anemones 11-days ago and put them into a 300-gallon revolving tank that houses a true percula and a black ocellaris among other things. Both of the clowns were hatched and reared here at Fishey Business. Neither clown had ever been kept with an anemone. It took 11-days before they were going into the first of the rose bubble tips. By tomorrow I think they'll find the other rose which is nearer the top and a bit larger. It's been a good day.

PS
I got a hunch the black ocellaris is going to be the big bad momma.

 

[Anonymous]

how can you tell the dif between the ocellaris and a true percula...Im just curious if there is a physical way to tell..i cant visibly see it...this is just my curiousity...

 

[dizzy]

LordNikon,
Ocellaris generally have 11 dorsal spines while perculas have just 9 or 10. Ocellaris generally have have 17 pectoral rays while perculas commonly have 16. These differences are not obvious. I can usually look at a clown and tell if it is ocellaris or percula, but not always and certainly not with absolutely certainty. Actually both of the pairs that were the parents to these two clowns were sold to me as perculas from a wholesaler. True perculas will usually have wider back edging on their white bands. The parents of the true percula are gorgous pair with wide black edging and it would be fairly obvious to an experienced clown keeper what they are. One needs to read a little about the Darwin clowns to realize they are ocellaris as it is not obvious from the markings. I don't believe anyone has bred or observed a true percula that is completely black and white. The ocellaris grow to 3" and the perks top out at 2.5". The true perks seem to have more misbars in their spawns and it takes longer for them to get their white bar by the tail than it does the ocellaris.

You can find some true perks that don't have exceptional black edging, and you can find some pretty decent looking ocellaris that do, but when you see a particularly nice true percula it is hard to mistake it. Believe me being a local fish store owner has its advantages when selecting brood stock. :wink:
Mitch

PS I should add that the true percula in the picture is about 13-months old and just now getting it adult coloring.

 

[John_Brandt]

The ocellaris grow to 3" and the perks top out at 2.5"

I once had a female percula that was about 4" long. I have photos, but they are not digital. I paid $80 for her in 1992, when it was almost impossible to find true perculas.

FishBase lists the maximum length of both ocellaris and percula at almost 4.5".

 

[dizzy]

The ocellaris grow to 3" and the perks top out at 2.5"

I once had a female percula that was about 4" long. I have photos, but they are not digital. I paid $80 for her in 1992, when it was almost impossible to find true perculas.

FishBase lists the maximum length of both ocellaris and percula at almost 4.5".

John,
This is the trouble I get into for plagiarizing Joyce D. Wilkerson. The 3" for ocellaris and 2.5" figures for A. percula both came out of her book "Clownfishes". Is FishBase the new bible on clownfish sizes?
Mitch

 

[John_Brandt]

Mitch, don't worry, it's not plagiarizing. You took the figures from Wilkerson who took them from Allen. He is of course listed as a reference in her book.

I would not necessarily call FishBase a 'bible' but it is a very rich source for information about any fish. It is a distillation (compilation) of lots of field research by many different Ichthyologists. Gerry Allen figures prominantly at FishBase. But no single researcher is an island, and so we get statistics from a variety of sources there. But FishBase is not without foibles. There are some glaring errors (to the initiated) to be found there, and in many cases information is just simply missing.

But in researching fish, or providing facts about them, FishBase is a 'must see'.

 

[John_Brandt]

FWIW Mitch, pull out your ruler and look at 2.5 inches. I'm surprised that Wilkerson herself had never seen a female percula clown larger than that at the time of her writing the book.

 

[Anonymous]

Dizzy if you have a pic of a true percula, i would like to see it...

 

[shalegac]

your clowns are beautiful. Keep us updated please

 

[nanocat]

I was recently at a reefer's house who has a 300g. tank with a 5 year old pair. The female was a good 4 1/2". The biggest percula I've seen. Made me think twice about that little perc in my nano cube

 

[Wheeldog63]

how can you tell the dif between the ocellaris and a true percula...Im just curious if there is a physical way to tell..i cant visibly see it...this is just my curiousity...

The easiest way to look at an A. percula and an A. Ocellaris is to look at the ring around the eye. The ocellaris have a kinda 'muddy' or darker looking ring around the eye, where as the percula has a clear ring. Dizzy is correct in his identification of the species, but sometimes the spines can be hard to count on the species. I find the eye ring easier to use as identification in a pinch.

~Kelly

 

[dizzy]

Dizzy if you have a pic of a true percula, i would like to see it...

Lord,
I can do twice that good. BTW I already showed you what a young one looks like. :wink: Even the novice can learn to tell the difference in many instances. Some have much more black than my excellent pair that are show with eggs. That's mum and pop by the way.

John,
Maybe Joyce and Jerry aren't counting the tail. :wink: 4.5" is quite a large perk, anyone got a picture of one next to a ruler?

 

[Anonymous]

You know what, I noticed that tonite, the more black in a true percula..I was glancing through a Drs Foster and Smith catalog, fish section when they had pix of both a true percula and an ocellaris...cool deal man...thx

 

[dizzy]

Lord,
Don't expect to get a real nice true perk with lots of black from an etailer like the good doctors. The guy taking orders probably never even sees the fish they're shipping out to you. They drop ship via one of the LA wholesalers. Be warned only a small percentage of the true perks have lots of black. There is also a pretty good chance that the wild A. percula you receive will break down from VEN (viral erythrocytic necrossis) or Brooklynella hostilis a protozoan parasite that is sometimes called clownfish disease. IMO you are far better off to get a tank raised true percula with good markings from you local fish store. If you get lucky it will develop more of the black as it matures. If it doesn't it will still be a nice fish.
Mitch

 

[clyde]

whats a perk ?

 

[Anonymous]

perk=percula..and Thanks Mitch...I have always had Clark clowns...ive never tried the percula or ocellaris...