True or False

[pooreefer]

How can I tell a true perc. from a false perc? Thanks.

[Steve Richardson]

I forget actually...

I believe one of the characteristics of a 'false' percula or ocellaris is an indestinct and irregular black line bordering the white.

There may also be a difference in the number of spines on the dorsal fin.

Oh yeah... I think that the ocellaris had a 'longer face' too. :)

blatant guesses...

[dendronepthya]

I look for that black area between the two white bands. The true ones always seemed to have it and the false ones did not.

[Avi]

black bands are much much thicker on the true percs.

[Spongebob]

Not to be a jerk, but unless pooreefer has both species (varieties?) at hand how is he going to tell "thicker" from "narrower" bands?

SuperGook is right, though, if you have a look at http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clownfis.htm you'll see that the bands are much thicker on the percula than the ocellaris (I've always had a problem with the "false percula" designation, implying that the ocellaris was a aspiring to be a percula. Both are beautiful fish.)

[Wolverine]

The true percs do tend to have thicker black bands than the ocellaris, but, as bob pointed out, sometimes it's hard to tell if you don't have both of them in front of you. If there's almost no black, or there is none, then it's probably ocellaris. If there's a tone of black, then it's probably percula. If there's some black, then it could be either. Basically, the more black there is, the more likely to be percula.
Technically the difference does differ in the number of spines in the dorsal fin, but it's usually pretty tough to count those while the fish is swimming around in the tank. If I remember right, one of them has 10, and the other 11, but I couldn't tell you which is which, and I don't have Wilkerson's book handy.

Another thing to note is that perculas tend to be considerably more aggressive than ocellaris; this isn't much good for recognizing the what you're looking it, but it can help in deciding which you want in your tank.

Dave

[cal3v]

I have also noticed a semi-good indocator. The percs have that wide forward sweeping mid body stripe, while the ocellaris have a relatively straighter mid body bar.