Interesting concept for Clowns and Anemones

So i was at the LFS buying my LTA this week. It has since settled in and I'll be feeding it soon.

when i was shopping for my anemone, the LFS guy asked me if my oscellaris clowns were tank raised or wild. he mentioned that tank raised likely won't know to host the anemone since it's a social trait. almost all wild ones will almost immediately host an anemone (statistical population is based on all the fish they bring in, both tank raised and wild caught).

anyways, he's had more than a few customers come back and tell him good reviews on the following social behavior: they print out a picture of clowns in an anemone and tape it to the glass of their tank. after a few days or so, the clowns learn to host the anemone. (this is for tank bred clowns).

wondering if anyone has ever hear about this behavior. i printed out a few pics and taped them to my glass to test out the social behavior.

anyone ever read anything like this?

 

Yep. Plenty of times.

It seems that hosting an anemone is at least partially a learned behavior.

 

ok very cool. i'll fill you guys in if my clowns take to my lta

 

hahaha... never heard of this before... I've heard of them "pairing up" with the clown fish seaweed clips before though... may have to give this a try...

clowns are goofy aren't they?

 

This proposed idea that captive breed clowns do not know enough to find an anemone on their own does not explain why capitive breed clowns will reside in corals such as euphyllias without the need of prompting.

To some degree I think a picture does help some clowns see the light, but the idea that captive breed clowns have lost the innate drive to reside in an anemones is too broad for me. It that were indeed the case they would not seek out surrogate corals to reside in.

 

Individual difference in holding tanks may play a part in this. I know at my LFS, they breed clowns fairly frequently - in tanks with anemones. They may also still pick up the behavior from older clowns who host powerheads or other objects in the breeding tank.

I honestly doubt that the behavior is completely bred into the clown; I definitely agree that the physical characteristics of clowns that allow them to reside in anemones are genetically present (thinker slime coating, coloration to ward of predators, general size, swimming style via muscular structure), but the behavior is something I'm fairly sure is not fully developed.

I think it would be interesting to take clownfish as eggs, and put them in a tank with an anemone. See if hosting is truly a bred-in trait, or just a behavior learned from other clowns.

I just don't see the evolutionary pressure that forces clowns to host anemones specifically (and thus pushes their genetics in this direction). Quite a few clowns are very capable of living outside of an anemone, as many know, from observing the more aggressive species.

 

Fwiw, my clown was hosting a nem at the lfs I got it from. I don't have a nem, but it hasn't even attempted to host my euphyllia or plate corals like I thought it might.

The clowns in the tanks at that store host everything from feather duster worms to tridacna clams. This leads me to believe it is a learned response.

 

i was just wondering that the other day! but i was gonna do a video on a loop i have tank raised o. clowns and they kinda swim in some algae and what not but i dont think they know what they are doing

 

I have two tank raised/born Black percs. and recently put in a green BTA. After about a week one of them started hosting it and I didn't have to do anything. The other one hasn't done it at all though.

Lucky I guess?

 

Interested to see if the photos have any effect...