Weird clownfish pairing mix-up

[teri]

Hi all,

 

So I bought a true perc who had been in the LFS tank alone for a month, figured she was a she by then. Had ehr in my tank three weeks and bought a B&W Ocellaris, much smaller, put it in and hoped for a pair. The larger true perc gave the oce about 15 minutes of mild abuse and then they just ignored each other.

 

Now, about three weeks later, I see no abuse from either, but the true perc is doing the shimmy shake "you can be the boss I will be the boy" dance for the tiny little B&W oce.

 

What gives? And if the true perc is going to be the boy, will the B&W eventually grow larger than the perc? She (or what I thought would be a she) is already pretty darn big.

[teri]

Nobody???

[CSoli921]

isnt shimmying a female dominance dance?

[BustytheSnowMaam]

If they're otherwise ignoring each other, I would say that the true perc is just showing submission to the black and white perc (shimmying shows submission) when the true perc is in the b&w perc's space.

 

I'm not sure, but I think the black and white perc would be a variety of false percula clownfish, which is a different species than a true perc, and they won't pair.

[OB1]

Well, If I was orange and the only other fish like me left in my ocean was black, I'd be going for it.

Sorry I don't have an educated response

[teri]

Yes the shimmying is a subordination signal. I just cannot figure out why the true perc, who was there first and is much bigger and also showed immediate signs of dominance to the B&W (beat him up) wouls now submit to him. I think that even though they are true and false percs they can pair--have seen it happen with friends' tanks. Doesn't mean these will of course, since there is obviously some confusion going on. java script:add_smilie("","smid_2")http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/style_images/ip.boardpr/folder_editor_images/rte-emo-button.png

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