|
The False Percula Clownfish is the most popular of the clownfish species in the marine aquarium hobby. It is called the False Percula because it is closely related to, and easily confused with, the True Percula Clownfish (A. percula) from the Indo-Pacific. First described by Cuvier in 1830, the species name ocellaris, which translates as "little eye", was given because the first type specimen showed an eyespot on the tail. It was later discovered that this was due to a chemical reaction during preservation, and the species actually has no spots.
False Percula clownfish are the one of the first marine aquarium fish to be successfully raised in captivity. They helped lead the way in the development of the commercial marine ornamental aquaculture industry. In nature A. ocellaris occurs in a wide range in the Indo -Pacific region including: Australia, the East Indies, Melanesia, the Philippines and the Ryukyus islands.
False Perculas are one of the least aggressive of the clownfish family, and usually tolerate other members of the same species in their tank. A. ocellaris are easy to maintain in aquariums, they adapt well, and will accept a wide variety of aquarium foods. They prefer the carpet anemones as host species, usually H. magnifica, S. gigantea or S. mertensii
Mated pairs of False Percula Clownfish typically spawn every 10-14 days and the eggs hatch in about 7-8 days. The female is generally the larger fish of the pair. As with some other marine fish, clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites, meaning they exhibit sex reversal from males to females. The average nest size for A. ocellaris is about 250 eggs.
The regular size (1.5 inches) False Perculas sold by ORA are about 6-8 months old, the large size (over 2 inches) are about a year old. |