| Orange skunk clownfish | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Blenniiformes |
| Family: | Pomacentridae |
| Genus: | Amphiprion |
| Species: | A. sandaracinos |
| Binomial name | |
| Amphiprion sandaracinos Allen, 1972 | |
Amphiprion sandaracinos, also known as the orange skunk clownfish or orange anemonefish, is a species of anemonefish that is distinguished by its broad white stripe along the dorsal ridge. Like all anemonefishes it forms asymbioticmutualism withsea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. It is asequential hermaphrodite with a strict sized baseddominance hierarchy: the female is largest, the breeding male is second largest, and the male non-breeders get progressively smaller as the hierarchy descends.[2] They exhibitprotandry, meaning the breeding male will change to female if the sole breeding female dies, with the largest non-breeder becomes the breeding male.[3]
A. sandaracinos is one of the smaller anemonefish, which grows up to 11 cm (4.3 in) as a female and 3 to 6.5 cm (1.2 to 2.6 in) as a male.[4] Its body has a stock appearance, oval shape, compressed laterally and with a round profile.[5] Its coloration is bright orange, with a white stripe on the dorsal ridge from the superior lip, passing between the eyes and ending at thecaudal fin base.[3][4] All thefins have the same coloration as the body except thedorsal fin which is partially white. Itsiris is bright yellow.[6]
A. sandaracinos is found in the center of theIndo-Pacific area, known as theCoral Triangle, from thePhilippines toIndonesia andNew Guinea.It is also found in north westernAustralia,Christmas Island,Melanesia and to theRyukyu Islands of southernJapan.[3][4]A. sandaracinos typically lives in small groups on outerreef slopes or inlagoons at a maximal depth of 20 metres (66 ft).[7]
The relationship between anemonefish and their host sea anemones is not random and instead is highlynested in structure.[8]A. sandaracinos is a specialist, being hosted primarily by one out of the ten host anemones:[3][7][8]
On the northern coast of New Guinea, maleA. sandaracinos occasionally breed with the significantly larger femaleA. chrysopterus and their offspring is thehybrid anemonefishA. leucokranos.[9]
In 2011 3 individuals ofA. sandaracinos and a pair ofA. clarkii were observed to coexist within one host anemone ofStichodactyla mertensii.A. clarkii was not aggressive towards theA. sandaracinos but was aggressive towards all fish approaching the anemone. The anemonefish didn't divide the host into separate territories.[10]
Like all anemonefish,A. sandaracinos isomnivorous and its diet is based onzooplankton, smallbenthiccrustaceans andalgaes.[6]
Anemonefish and their host anemones are found on coral reefs and face similarenvironmental issues. Likecorals, anemone's contain intracellularendosymbionts,zooxanthellae, and can suffer frombleaching due to triggers such as increased water temperature oracidification. The other threat to anemonefish is collection for the marine aquarium trade where anemonefish make up 43% of the global marine ornamental trade, and 25% of the global trade comes from fish bred in captivity, while the majority are captured from the wild,[11][12] accounting for decreased densities in exploited areas.[13] While bleaching is a significant threat to anemonefish and their host anemones, there is evidence suggesting that collection compounds the localised impact of bleaching.[14]A. sandaracinos was the only species of anemonefish that was evaluated in the 2012 release of theIUCN Red List and it was listed as being ofleast concern as the threats are mainly of a localised nature and do not pose a significant threat to the global population of this species.[1]
A. sandaracinos along with their host anemones are collected for the aquarium trade, and the anemonefish has been bred in captivity.[7]
