Clownfish have long been one of the most popular fish in the marine aquarium trade. Due to advances in technology along with a better understanding of the process, the supply of cultured clownfish has grown exponentially in the past 10 years. Several commercial farms grow thousands of these fish for the US market every year.  Now, a very rarely seen species (either wild or cultured) is at Quality Marine.  I’ve not seen this fish in person before and Quality Marine tells us that they have not been available for over two years; aquacultured or wild caught.

The Wideband Clown is found in the waters surrounding Australia ranging from Southern Queensland to Northern New South Wales and Lord Howe Island, hundreds of miles away from the majority of saltwater aquarium fish collecting to the north. Because of their remote location and large collection size, most ship poorly and have much less of a chance at survival from collection to the aquarium. They commonly inhabit coral reefs at depths of up to 45 meters (147 feet). Looking a little like the front end of a pug, their primary food source is small zooplankton and they also graze on various types of turf algae (mostly to clean rocks for spawning). MORE