My clownfish is turning black??

[streakerx]

I have a clownfish which is starting to turn blackish, it is missing a lower fin (I don't know if the damselfish or the cleaner shrimp ripped it off). Does this mean the clownfish is dying or that it's on its way there??

 

BTW, it is a sebae clown (yellow w/ white stripes)

[Masoch]

I believe they mature to different colours. At any rate, here's something to look at.

[MKramer]

The clown species with black variants (in the aquarium trade, these are primarily percula and clarkii, and tank-raised ocillaris) generally start out orange/red/yellow as juveniles, then darken up as they mature.

 

Given how rare (and un-hardy) true sebae clowns are for aquariums, odds are you have a clarkii. I would agree with the previous poster that this is just natural for your clown.

 

I would suspect that the missing fin is wholely unrelated.

[onthefly]

Have your Wife/GF/or Mom make bread out of him!

 

If he's eating fine and puts up a fight when the other start picking on him, he's probably fine, just getting old or morphing (I don't think clown are hermaphiditic....anybody know?). Keep an eye out for fin rot though. That's usually the first thing that kicks in when a clown gets beat up.

[MKramer]

They're not hermaphroditic, but that has nothing to do with morphing. Hermaphroties, by definition, provide both sexual functions at the same time.

 

Clowns, work like this:

 

1. Born sexless

2. "juveniles" remain sexless

3. Most dominate in a family morphs into the female. This can either be the most dom juvi, or an existing male int the family

4. Once a female is established in a family, the next most dominate will become the male and form a bond with the female.

5. If the female dies, the male will become the female, and the next most dominate fish will becoem the new bonded male.

 

This sexual amorphism is one-way, though. Once they go female, they never go back.

[tinyreef]

it's just getting older like masoch mentioned. the black starts creeping over as they age. most likely it's a nemo.

 

mk,

i didn't know the sex change was one-way. X) i thought they could switch back. that's why my (bigger) alpha female knocked the stuffing outta the other one. :*(

[MKramer]

You got it. Female clowns no love each other, and it's usually a fight to the death. Like Thunderdome. Two female clowns enter, only one survives.

[bgoode]

Hermaphroditism is not by definition "both sexual functions at the same time." This is simultaneous hermaphroditism. Clownfish are protandric, which is a form of sequential hermaphoditism. They change from male to female, and if the female is removed, the male will become female and a juvenlie will become the mature male.

[onthefly]

I think your all right by definition. The example that I had stuck in my head was the Sheephead (for non West Coast peeps, it a big wrasse). Where, the female is small (usually a pound or two), pointed nose, very pretty pink color.......and the males get BIG (biggest I've seen was 29lbs), huge bullhead, and serious color change to Black/Red/Black barring, and a set of choppers that would make an orthodontist say "ching!".

 

All beside the point, their just getting old!!!!

[freakaccident]

Sheepshead are tasty too!

[Satchmo]

Originally posted by MKramer

Once they go female, they never go back.

 

You know, I keep telling this to a gay friend of mine, but he doesn't believe me.