Blue and Black Clownfish?

[Swords]

I was at a reef shop in my area and I saw they had blue and black percula clowns. Is this some weird rarity or is the horrid prcess of dyeing fish prevelant in the SW hobby as it is in the FW?

[ChrisIsBored]

Positive it wasa clown fish? They don't ID them correctly all the time...

I've heard things about company's experimenting with changing the colors of certain fish... scary...

[Swords]

Yes they were the traditional what ya think of when ya think "clownfish" but instead of orange the color patches were blue divided by the usually white bands and in another tank they had a pair of black ones. The guys who own that shop are creepy so I didn't hang around long or chat.

They also had a beautiful 12" tall pinnatus batfish with a huge gaping sore on it's head... nice catch, where's my Visa at...!?

[viking30]

HI,
There is a shop here in Cairns Australia with a pair of clowns that are jet black and white. Nice looking fish. Only small about 1 and a half inch long. I wondered if they might change colour when older?
Cheers,
Viking.

[Skipper]

For purposes of comparison with what you saw, I found a picture of a black percula.

http://reefsite.homestead.com/files/d93c8953.jpg

[Nosmada]

i belive the black percs are called saddleback clowns. sound right skipper ?

chris

[Skipper]

No. Saddlebacks are completely different, but similar coloration. Here is a pic of a Saddleback:

A juvenile:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/DamselPIX/Clownfishes/Amphiprion_polymnus2.jpg

An adult:

http://www.fishbase.org/images/Ampol_u2.jpg

Also found another pic of a black percula:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/DamselPIX/Clownfishes/Amphiprion_ocellarisBLKAQ.jpg

[Swords]

They looked similar to the photos of black clowns that skipper showed of black clowns but they had no orange at all (none on the tips of their nose like in the pics). and what of the blue ones-that must be some kind of injected dye right?

I must say the blue clowns were totally awesome looking but I certainly do not support dying/altering fishes in any unnatural way.

[Skipper]

Swords:
That would be difficult to say from this vantage point. Try looking around at these sites and see if you can find it:

http://www.keil.ukans.edu/ebooks/ch2.html#colour

http://www.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/private/kgw/af/

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clownfis.htm

[chromis]

are they captive bred? I beleive Ninong knows someone who breeds black perc clowns, and described them as being "blue."



HTH

[Ninong]

Hi,

Mermaid in Baton Rouge breeds "Black Perculas." Actually they are not Percula Clowns at all but a color morph of Amphiprion ocellaris from the area around Darwin, Australia. They are frequently available in the trade under various confusing common names: Darwin Clowns, Black Perculas, etc. Remember that they are just a color morph of Ocellaris Clowns that is common to the area near Darwin.

The ones that I saw at Mermaid's house are black with white bands. The white bands appear bluish at the edges. Hers did not show any orange at all.

Joyce Wilkerson makes a comment in her book, Clownfishes, that the C-Quest Hatchery in Puerto Rico has fixed a bright red strain and a black strain in "Perculas." I assume she is talking about A. percula and not A. ocellaris but she just says "Perculas."

I have never seen a blue clownfish.

Ninong

[ZippyBoy]

Here is a pic of my two "black percs". They were bred on Long Island, NY and sold to me by a small pet shop in Hicksville. They have obviously paired off inspite of being brother and sister. They have claimed the upper right hand part of my 135 reef tank as their spawning spot. They also occasionally frequent the large pagoda cup coral (which I've owned for 4 years) as an anenome substitute. They are very "laid back" as far as damselss go and i would HIGHLY recommend them to clown keepers!

[Swords]

Zippy that is it! Exactly what I saw, perhaps the "blue" ones were just the blacks under a weird colored light and just appeared to be blue (like the color of the meter that shows the web page loading up everytime you click on a link). But that's the black ones I'm positive.

I'm also glad that it isn't a dye job selective breeding for a hobby is one thing but dyeing a fish is another.

[viking30]

Was asking around Cairns Australia today about the black clowns and was told that they are found around Darwin as someone already said, but now no more are allowed to be taken from the reef. Only captive bred ones now found on the market. Here anyway.

Cheers,
Viking.

[ZippyBoy]

Josh,

One last comment. These fish are GREAT. They have darkened in color as they have gotten older. The pic posted by Skipper is a fair representation of what my fish looked like when they were young...almost a chocolate with orange chins. I don't know if the color change to a deep black with irradescent white stripes happened because they got older or are in breeding colors but I think they look great. (did I say great, I meant GREAT.) :D

I keep hoping to see an egg mass one morning but nothing so far. I used to have these guys in my 20 gal reef and they really seem to have "perced" up since upgrading to my 135. I have not seen them available for sale since....sounds like a business opportunity!

Keep Reefin.....Keith

[nanoguy]

I would love to have a pair but no LFS in my area carries these colors. Anyone know where I can maybe order them from?