Common Clown Fish

The Ocellaris clown fish "Nemo" is a favourite for the beginner and experienced aquarist. The black and white ocellaris clown fishes occurs naturally in anemones and is best known from the movie Finding Nemo.The black and white ocellaris clown fish has three white stripes with vibrant black pallets on its body .

Ocellaris is often confused with the percula clownfish, because of their coloration and stripe patter. The discerning difference is that A Ocellaris has 11 dorsal spines, where the Percula clownfish has 9 or 10.

Nemo clownfish is often bred in captivity making it a very hardy fish, and good for beginners. It is readily available in the aquarium trade.

General Size Specifications: The size of this clown fishes vary from 1cm to 8cm and are found naturally in Southern Asia. It can grow to 8 cm in the wild, but aquarium specimens rarely exceed 5 cm unless they are imported large.

This fish is sometimes sold as the Percula Clown, even though it is not. The colour pattern is very similar, but it is not as bright orange. The advantage of the Ocellaris is that it is much hardier. Tank bred specimens are currently available for purchase.

Habitat: The Ocellaris Clownfish, also known as the False Percula Clownfish, False Clown Anemonefish, and Anemone Demoiselle, is found associating with anemones throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Lifespan: It is a long-lived clownfish that is excellent for the beginner hobbyist. It does best in the presence of anemones such as Heteractis magnifica or Stichodactyla sp. These fish are knowen to also host in Torch and hammer head corals as well as polyp leather corals.

Feeding and Diet: The black and white ocellaris clown fishes are omnivorous and they feed varied diet that include plant material also. This clownfish is an aggressive eater. It will take most meaty foods and frozen herbivore preparations.

Breeding: Ocellaris fish like most clown fish breed by laying their eggs near their host anemone. The parents will defend the eggs and will occasionally fan them. After 8 to 9 days the eggs will hatch, about an hour after dark. The fry should then be removed to aq dedicated aquariums.