Black and white clown question...

[pikemartin]

Anyone know how to tell the difference between and ocellaris black and white clown and a percula black and white clown?????

[Mini-Dude]

dorsal spines

[US Marine Coral]

I thought all Black & White clowns were Ocellaris.

[mrbigshot]

percula blacks are called onyx clowns, they will never turn completely black. generally the fins will retain there orange (the dorsal will sometime go black but those are rare) the face and tail fin will still be orange. the eyes will have the yellow iris that you see in all percula. very rarley will you find one that has most of its adult coloration in a fish store unless there wild caught. it can take 3 years or more before the adult coloration will finally develop. up until that point they look like a standard percula. this is because they are the same fish, the onyx just has more black. these are primarily found in Papua New Guinea and just to the east in area's of the Solomon Islands.

 

a darwin (b/w ocellaris) when young may have a orange face, bellies, and a dark brown color. over time they will become black. the faces may take years or they make months but they will turn black in time. the eyes will have the dark iris of an ocellaris making the entire eye look dark or dead. wild caught fish are never available in the us unless you have a serious connection. they come from a small area just off the coast of Darwin Australia. they are commonly bread in the us.

 

unfortunately you will see many fish stores listing black saddleback clowns as black and white ocellaris, or even having them listed as black and white percula's, as you know there is no such thing. its fairly easy to tell a black saddle back from a darwin because the face will be yellow and the body is shaped differently, they will swim differently than normal clowns. the price is generally a good indicator. black saddlebacks are cheaper and darwins are almost always nearly $40

 

onyx percula avg retail $75-$100 adult, $35 juvinile

(these are the parent's to my baby onyx's)

 

darwin ocellaris avg retail $39 adult or juvinile (commonly sold as black and white percula, they are ocellaris or false percula)

 

 

black saddleback average retail $25 (commonly mis sold as a black and white ocellaris)