Dark pigmentation on Ocerllaris, plus bonus round

[bobinnola]

This is an ORA tank raised Ocellaris clown. He is the submissive of two in a 20H. He has two darker spots of pigmentation which I have been unsuccessful in IDing in a salt book and also in the much more extenisve Merck DVM guide...

 

His behavior and eating are normal and my working assumption is that this is harmless, like a freckle, but I'm curious what others may think...

 

As a bonus question can anyone ID this softie which hitchhiked on some of my live rock?

 

Thanks a heap,

bob(ski)innola

[bobinnola]

here:

[bobinnola]

the bonus round (sorry about the sloppiness of the post )

[Caesar777]

Majano anemone--similar to Aiptasia, they can grow to pest proportions and sting your corals to death.

[bobinnola]

thanks, i googled them and you are correct sir! Not as ugly as aiptasia, they don't seem to grow as fast either. My joe's juice says it will kill them... Any idea about the spots?

[Caesar777]

They don't split nearly as quickly as Aiptasia, and they're quite cute, but before you know it, each one you have will have a twin hiding behind him, and they "jump" to other spots in the tank... They can still get out of hand. Joes juice should work, just be sure to inject into the mouth and use a lot.

 

Not sure about the fish--not really my area of interest/expertise--but I'm sure it's something common that could be found in any marine book.

[bobinnola]

i've checked several books, including some at the aquarium downtown where i volunteer, also the DVM book as noted in my original post... hmm wish i had more friends!

 

Thanks tho!

[daves new nano]

hi bob

I dont think the spots on your clown are anything to worry about, one of my pair got them for a while but they soon disapered, i was told there normal for clowns, kinda like clown achne

[trekbear]

To add to Daves comment, they are natural and usually happen when the fish start investigating/hosting Euphyllia (Hammers, Frogspawn, Torches). So he could have been trying to host a coral and this is the response to it. It should clear up as Dave said though.

 

If the area's become raised or start to lose scales and such then I would start to be concerned. Your fish looks fine to me though!

 

HTH,

TrekBear

[bobinnola]

Thanks fellas, I very much appreciate the input, I will hopefully be able to show the photo to husbandry staff at the aquarium today when I go in for my volunteer shift. I am relieved that they don't seem to be anything to worry about, and I do have a hammer and a torch in the tank... I thought they were too good for their homes to be honest.

[Billio]

I've got the same spots on my clowns. As mentioned, it appears to be harmless. I haven't seen them try and host on one of the corals but I've got several marks on each of my clowns.

[dweakl01]

My clown has had them in the past. They seem to come and go. Give it a few weeks and they should disappear.

[bobinnola]

cool, thanks for the reassurance, some of them are seeming to fade a bit

will post some pictures of the dominant "female" hosting with the frogspawn at 3am last night, first time i had seen it...

 

Bob

[bobinnola]

BTW: Joes juice killed them with vicious intensity, very cool to watch (god complex and delusions of grandeur growing...) and pics of the clown hosting are in my gallery. check my web page for pictures of the new caribbean corals exhibit at the aquarium here in new orleans...