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Variety of Ocellaris clownfish

Tangerine Albino clownfish

Amphiprion ocellaris

One of 17 varieties of Amphiprion ocellaris · See all varieties →

SaltwaterFish

Tangerine Albino clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)

Varieties · Amphiprion ocellaris

See all 17 →

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–82°F
24–28°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
3.1 in
8 cm
Minimum tank
20 gal
75 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Social
Swim level
Middle
Difficulty
Beginner
Breeding
Easy
Rarity
Very common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Pomacentridae

Overview

Tangerine Albino is a bright orange fish with solid white bars and no black between them. The missing black outlining is what separates it from a standard ocellaris. Sea & Reef also crosses the trait into other lines, listing a Tangerine Albino Snowflake and a Tangerine Storm.

In the wild

Morgan Lidster at Inland Aquatics in Terre Haute, Indiana marketed an early tangerine ocellaris, and Reef Builders covered a separate Proaquatix strain in September 2011. Matt Pedersen warned in that piece against reusing the Tangerine name for the newer fish, since Lidster's already carried it. Sea & Reef later brought the trait into its own program. It is not a wild form.

Good to know

Despite the name these fish are usually described as hypomelanistic rather than truly albino. Reef Builders reported a uniform reduction of black pigment across the fish, the eyes included, rather than a complete loss, and read the mutation as a codominant melanin-reducing change. Reduced and not absent is the distinction the trade name gets wrong.

Did you know

The name has been contested twice over. Reef Builders argued in 2011 that both albino and Tangerine were wrong labels for the Proaquatix strain, since Morgan Lidster had already sold a Tangerine ocellaris out of Inland Aquatics, and suggested Apricot instead.

Symbiotic relationships

Clownfish and their host anemones

A clownfish lives inside an anemone that stings and eats other fish its size. Its mucus coat keeps the anemone's stinging cells from firing, and a new fish builds that protection up over hours of brief touches. The fish gets a refuge no predator will follow it into and a nest site at the anemone's base. The anemone gets a guard that drives off the butterflyfish that would graze its tentacles, a steady supply of nitrogen from the fish's waste, and water movement at night, when the fish fans its fins among the tentacles and the anemone takes up more oxygen. Only ten anemone species host clownfish in the wild, and each clownfish species uses its own short list of them.

Captive-bred clownfish have never seen an anemone and do not need one; they settle for a coral, a powerhead or a corner of the tank. If you want the pairing, the anemone is the harder animal by far and goes in first, into a mature tank with strong light and stable water, at the tank size its own profile lists. The bubble tip anemone is the hardy host, and the one most clownfish accept in captivity even when it is not a natural host, so a clownfish profile lists it as the usual tank host where that is the case. The sebae, magnificent and carpet anemones are marked difficult, and the carpets eat fish. Expect a paired clownfish to defend its anemone against everything else in the tank.

Every symbiotic relationship in the catalog

Weekly picks

Tank mates

Tangerine Albino clownfish is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

Is a Tangerine Albino clownfish a different species from the Ocellaris clownfish?

No. A Tangerine Albino clownfish is a variety of the Ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris, and it wants the same tank, water and food as the species.

Is the Tangerine Albino clownfish a true albino?

It is usually described as hypomelanistic rather than albino. Reef Builders reported a uniform reduction of black pigment across the fish, eyes included, rather than a complete loss. Reduced and not absent is the distinction the trade name gets wrong.

What does a Tangerine Albino clownfish look like?

A bright orange fish with solid white bars and no black between them. The missing black outlining is what separates it from a standard ocellaris. Sea & Reef also crosses the trait into other lines, listing a Tangerine Albino Snowflake and a Tangerine Storm.

What size tank does a Tangerine Albino clownfish need?

A Tangerine Albino clownfish needs at least 20 gal (75 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.

How big does a Tangerine Albino clownfish get?

An adult Tangerine Albino clownfish reaches about 3.1 in (8 cm).

Related species