Percula Clownfish

Care at a glance

Overview

One of the hardiest and most beginner-friendly marine fish. It is peaceful toward other species but will defend its host and territory against other clownfish, so keep it alone or as a bonded pair. Captive-bred percula readily accept flake, pellet, and frozen foods and adapt well to reef aquariums.

In the wild

Found on sheltered reefs and lagoons of the western Pacific, living within host anemones that protect it from predators. It tends to stay very close to its host throughout the day, darting only a short distance to feed on drifting plankton before returning to the safety of the tentacles.

Good to know

A. percula is the classic 'true' clownfish and is very similar to A. ocellaris, but it usually has thicker black outlines around its white bands and ten to eleven dorsal spines. Like all clownfish it is a protandrous hermaphrodite, so a mated pair is a dominant female and a smaller male that will change sex if the female is lost.

Did you know

Percula clownfish form a strict size-based pecking order within their anemone, and non-breeding subordinate fish will deliberately stay small to avoid challenging the dominant pair.

Related species

• 

  Ocellaris Clownfish

  Amphiprion ocellaris

  3.1 in (8 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Barberi Clownfish

  Amphiprion barberi

  3.5 in (9 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Pink Skunk Clownfish

  Amphiprion perideraion

  3.9 in (10 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Skunk Clownfish

  Amphiprion akallopisos

  4.3 in (11 cm)26 gal (100 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Cinnamon Clownfish

  Amphiprion melanopus

  4.7 in (12 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Saddleback Clownfish

  Amphiprion polymnus

  5.1 in (13 cm)40 gal (150 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)