Few representatives of the seas and oceans can boast of such popularity as the clownfish. She has an enchanting and contrasting color. Therefore, even children know very well what it looks like. After all, she is the prototype of the heroes of many cartoons and toys. Because of the color of the fish, this name was given.
Description
A lot is known about clown fish, it lives in s alty and warm waters (in oceans and seas). In Latin, the name sounds like Amphiprioninae, assigned to the Pomacenter family. To date, there are 30 species. The color can vary from purple, yellow to fiery orange and even red.
This is a very brave amphiprion, always fiercely protecting himself and his home. He can even engage in a fight with a diver, biting him as soon as he approaches the fish. At the same time, it has several completely non-sharp and very small teeth.
All fish are males at the beginning of their life path and as they grow, they change sex if a female dies in a flock. Males are much smaller in size. The maximum size of a female is 20 centimeters. In aquariumfish usually do not grow more than 9 centimeters.
All fish have a flattened body on the sides, a short head and a high back. There are spikes on the front of the upper fin. The head of the school of fish is the largest female.
Sharks, eels and other large fish are natural enemies.
Lifestyle
A distinctive feature of this representative of the deep sea is that it creates a unique symbiosis with sea anemone (anemone). Anemones are marine animals without a skeleton and look like a flower. At the tips of the anemone's tentacles are stinging cells, which contain poisonous threads. As needed, when defending from an enemy, anemones shoot poison.
A clown fish at the first "acquaintance" with its anemone gives itself a little sting. This is how the composition of the mucus with which the "flower" is covered and which it produces in order not to poison itself is determined. In the future, the fish produces a similar composition of mucus and hides from intruders among the anemone tentacles.
For both creatures, the union is beneficial: the fish hides from enemies and sometimes brings food, and the anemone ventilates the water and cleans the "flower" from food that is not digested. If several fish gather around one sea anemone, then a clear hierarchy is formed among them. The dominant is the largest individual - the female. As soon as she disappears, the largest male changes sex and takes the place of the main fish.
Habitats and Lifespan
BThe natural environment of the clown fish lives in the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. You can meet her near the coasts of Japan and Polynesia, in eastern Africa and on the reefs of Australia, in the Red Sea. The main thing is that the waters are warm and clean. Although today, even with the existing ecological catastrophe, the fish is not an endangered species.
In the waters of the ocean, a fish lives up to 10 years. If kept in an aquarium, it can live up to 20 years. After all, a fish has no enemies in an artificial pond.
Natural Living
Sea clownfish are mostly content with what the current brings, as they do not swim far from their habitat. The diet contains algae and plankton. Often fish pick up what the sea anemone did not eat, and these are the remains of small fish that the anemone could not digest.
Spawning in natural waters
Clownfish lay their eggs on almost any flat surface, but not far from sea anemones. The male takes care of the younger generation. The transformation into fry from eggs occurs in complete dependence on the phases of the moon in complete darkness after 7-10 days from the moment the eggs are laid.
Aquarium keeping
Aquarium clownfish is very popular among aquarists. She is loved for her bright color and rather interesting behavior, which can be observed for several hours. In addition, the fish is completely unpretentious, but when kept in an artificial reservoir, it very quickly becomesaggressive, so it can not be kept with any kind of fish for aquariums.
Before buying an amphiprion, you need to plant an anemone in the aquarium, you will need several corals so that the fish can create a symbiosis and hide somewhere. This is not the shallowest representative of the deep sea, so keeping one individual will require at least 50 liters of water, and preferably 70. The water temperature should not fall below 25 degrees, and it will have to be changed at least 4 times a month.
Aquarium diet
What do clownfish eat in an aquarium? Ideally, it is best to feed brine shrimp, the remains of sea fish or squid, shrimp. Spirulina and algae will do. The fish accepts dry food for aquarium fish well.
Feeding should be done at least 3 times a day. At the same time, food is given in small portions. You can not pour a lot of food into the aquarium so that the food does not start to rot and the composition of the water does not deteriorate.
Reproduction in artificial conditions
Spawning in fish always occurs in the evening, it is moonlight that activates the behavior of males. For laying caviar, it is necessary to equip a place. It can be a clay pot or a saucer near the anemone. The place where spawning will take place must be clean. Spawning lasts for 2 hours. As soon as masonry has occurred, it is better to turn off the lighting for about a day.
After spawning, the male takes care of the eggs, removes the dead ones and protects them from unwanted guests. As soon as the fry is born, he is already able toeat on your own. In the first week of life, it is impossible to determine the future color of the fish, it appears only 7 days after birth.
If the aquarium contains other types of fish, it is advisable to transplant the fry so that they are not eaten. You can feed the younger generation the same as adults. Special requirements are imposed on water quality, since this representative of the deep sea in childhood is especially susceptible to various diseases: bacterial and fungal infections.
Compatibility
Clownfish are quite demanding of their environment. In no case should this species be kept with predators: imperial perches, moray eels and groupers. It is not recommended to mix different types of amphiprion in one artificial reservoir.
The most common aquarium species
Clark chocolate. Very easy to keep and breed well. The best couples come from the same litter. It is not recommended to keep this species with smaller clowns as they can be very aggressive towards them.
"Snowflake". It has three vertical white lines and is red-orange. It grows up to 9 centimeters, so you need a minimum aquarium volume of 80 liters. Usually does not show aggression and can live even without sea anemones.
Black clown. This is a small fish, not aggressive. Does well with other types of aquarium fish.
Moorish. The only clown of its kind to have side spikes. These individuals are enoughlarge, stretch up to 17 centimeters, very aggressive. With age, the color from red and brown gradually turns into black. In many ways, such changes depend on the composition of the food. Vertical stripes can be white or gold. The presence of sea anemones in the aquarium is not necessary.
The uniqueness of the fish: interesting facts
There are a lot of interesting facts about clownfish. Amphiprion is the only creature of all those that can live in an aquarium and can “speak”, more precisely, make interesting sounds, clicks and even grumble a little.
The presence of a protective mucus similar to that of an anemone allows the clown to live where other fish fall prey to this sea "flower". Some biologists claim that the grinding process between two completely different species can take several hours until the clown recreates the identical slime as his future "mistress".
The union of a clown and an anemone is not a whim, but a necessity. Amphiprion swims very poorly, and the poisonous tentacles of the "patron" allow you to protect yourself from enemies. In addition, under the anemone, the fish lays eggs.
In turn, the amphiprion not only ventilates the tentacles and removes the remnants of undigested food, aerates the water, but also protects the sea anemone from butterfly fish. After a series of studies, it was found that anemones die from butterfly fish within 24 hours if there is no clown nearby to drive them away.
Interesting fact: the clownfish is a brave individual, but more thanone meter from his "patron" never sails. The bravest females. Usually females are engaged in protection, although all fry are born males. This species of inhabitants of the deep sea has a pronounced hermaphroditism. In the event of the death of a female, the male takes her place and turns into a female. In the society of clowns, complete matriarchy reigns.
The uniqueness of the fish is that the laying of eggs always takes place on the full moon, and the fry appear only in the dark. A stable population is achieved due to the fact that after the birth, the fish are completely ready for independent life.
A fish knows how to manage the process of its own growth, slowing it down or, on the contrary, speeding it up. If the amphiprion grows rapidly, which causes dissatisfaction with its relatives, then it can completely stop the growth process, so as not to be expelled from the pack.
