Amphiprion percula Picture from April 1999 True Percula Clownfish Amphiprion percula Female Purchased: April 23th, 1997. Nickname: Clownie Male Purchased: April 26th, 1997. Nickname: Bozo Picture taken April 1999, Sony Mavica FD91 digital camera. I have two Percula Clownfish. On the left is the female on the right is a male. This is a mated pair. They call my long tentacle anemone (Macrodactyla doreensis) home. They never go very far from this anemone. I don't think they have ever been to the other side of the aquarium. Both of these fish are showing the adult coloration which is a slightly darker body. They are at full size, as pictured, which is about 3.2 inches for the female (larger one) and 2 inches for the male. All clownfish are born as subordinate males. The largest in the group will become the female and the next largest will become the dominate male. If the female should die, the dominate male will turn female and the rest fight it out to become the next dominate male. If two females are placed together they will usually fight to the death. If your going to get more than one clownfish always purchase the largest in the tank and the smallest. It may be possible that Amphiprion ocellaris and A. percula are the same species and just two different color morphs.

Amphiprion percula with Eggs Picture from April 2000 Picture taken with Nikon CoolPix 950 Digital Camera, Full Flash. On April 1st, 2000 for the first time I spotted the bright orange eggs left by the clowns. This now confirms that they are indeed a mated pair. I haven't counted them but I guess would be about 75 eggs. Pictured here is the male clownfish carefully guarding them from the peppermint shrimps near by. If you notice the difference in the color of the clownfish from the picture above, I have no idea why they are so far off. Perhaps the fish did change colors in the past year. The picture to the left shows true to life colors.

Amphiprion percula with Eggs Picture from April 2000 Picture taken with Nikon CoolPix 950 Digital Camera, Full Flash. My clowns are getting good at this. This is the third batch of eggs. In this picture I think the male is fertilizing the eggs. He was swimming across them in cress cross patterns. To the far left is the female watching, the male is swimming on the eggs. This picture was taken on day 1 of the cycle (no eggs were present the day before) and the bright orange color of the eggs help to confirm this.

Amphiprion percula with Eggs Picture from April 2000 Picture taken with Nikon CoolPix 950 Digital Camera, Full Flash. Not sure exactly what the female clown (left) is doing. She might be testing them for something. The male clown (right) seems to be fertilizing the eggs as he swims over them. This picture was taken right after the picture taken above.

Eggs with Eyes Picture from March 2001 Picture taken with Nikon CoolPix 950 Digital Camera, Tiffen +10 and +7 close-up lens, No Flash. Here is a close-up of the eggs later in development. You can clearly see the eye spots on the eggs and make out what looks like a spine. An adhesive disc holds the eggs in place.