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Sustainable Aquatics Shows Off Clownfish with Betta-like Fins

by | Oct 16, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish, Industry

Clownfish come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, but this one is way out there. Recently on their Facebook page, Sustainable Aquatics shared an image of this very unique looking clownfish. The tiny Ocellaris has the typical orange, white, and black coloration, but it also possesses elaborate fins that would look more fitting on a betta fish. According to Sustainable Aquatics, a member of their staff found an odd looking clownfish with unusually long fins that was being harassed by its tankmates. Seeing just how unique the fish was, the staff member relocated the fish so that it could heal from all of its battle wounds. After all, clownfish can be very aggressive toward each other. After some time, the longfin clownfish was eventually paired with a wild-caught female Ocellaris. The hope obviously being that  the longfin trait could be passed down to another generation and potentially blended with other clownfish aberrations to created a whole new genre of designer clown. From the wild Ocellaris x longfin clownfish pairing, an estimated total of 25,000 offspring have been hatched

ORA Gold Nugget Maroon Clowns Finally Available at Retailers

by | Oct 14, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish

A little more than a year ago, ORA announced the availability of the Goldflake Maroon Clownfish, while at the same time teasing us with their tiny Gold Nugget Maroon Clowns. At the time, ORA wouldn’t give us a release date for the Gold Nuggets, instead only teasing us further by showing the fish off at MACNA 2012 and other trade shows. Well, we’re happy to report that the day has finally come for the clownfish to be commercially available, and the timing is perfect. Since traditional goldstripe maroon clowns take about a year to develop their characteristic gold coloration, their gold nugget offspring were expected to follow the same time frame. The fish start out with a large portion of their body being white, but as they mature, the yellowish gold really starts to set in. And by judging from the images we have seen, that gold coloration is going to be fantastic.

Dr. Seuss in the Bedroom

by | Oct 4, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish

There has been a strange sense of romance across reef dwelling animals of late, with reports of very large spawning events we do believe, love is in the air.  It seems a few people have taken on some interesting breeding projects, including this one by Rich Ross, the...

ORA Blood Orange Clownfish a Hybrid Between Gold Stripe Maroon and Ocellaris Clowns

by | Sep 30, 2013 | Aquaculture, Fish, Industry

It was love at first sight, according to a new article from Oceans Reefs & Aquariums that announced their first ever intentional hybrid, the ORA Blood Orange Clownfish. The story about how this clownfish hybrid came to be is a bit unusual, but it makes for a great read. In short, ORA acquired a breeding clownfish pair from Larry Lau of Eco Reef Aquariums back in 2012, but it wasn’t a typical pair of clowns. Instead, it was a mixed species couple that consisited of a female Goldstripe Maroon clownfish (Premnas biaculeatus) and an Ocellarish clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). According to Larry, he sold the female GSM clownfish to a customer 10 years ago. When the customer had to relocate, the clownfish was given back to Larry, who placed her in a large display reef with a large carpet anemone. A year later, Larry was given an adult Ocellaris clownfish and thought the 200-gallon display would be more than enough space for the two fish to cohabitate. To his surprise, the Ocellaris clown swam right up to the GSM, who more surprisingly accepted it into her anemone. The GSM not only accepted the Ocellaris as a living partner, but even danced for him. Within 3 months from introduction, the two fish were regularly spawning, with egg clusters being clearly viable