Clark's anemonefish

Description

Clark's anemonefish is a small-sized fish which grows up to 10 cm as a male and 15 cm as a female.It is stocky,laterally compressed,and oval to rounded.It is colorful,with vivid black,white,and yellow stripes,though the exact pattern shows considerable geographical variation.Usually it is black dorsally and orange-yellow ventrally,the black areas becoming wider with age.There are two vertical white bands,one behind the eye and one above the anus,and the caudal peduncle is white.The snout is orange or pinkish.The dorsal and caudal fins are orange-yellow,and the caudal fin is generally lighter in tone than the rest of the body,sometimes becoming whitish.Color variations :Clark's anemonefish shows the greatest color variations of any anemonefish,with variations based on location,sex,age and host anemone.Adults in Vanuatu and New Caledonia are orange-yellow with two vertical white bands.Sex related color differences may be present,such as the female having a white caudal fin and the male having a yellow caudal fin.Juveniles are orange-yellow with vertical white bands.Fish living with the host anemone Stichodactyla mertensii,Mertens' carpet sea anemone are frequently black except for the snout bars and tail Similar species: The caudal fin is forked and the base lacks a white bar on Amphiprion latifasciatus.The caudal fin lacks the sharp demarcation between white and dark and the mid-body bar is narrower on Amphiprion allardi and Amphiprion akindynos.The caudal fin is dark on Amphiprion chrysogaster,Amphiprion fuscocaudatus and Amphiprion tricinctus.