Clownfish eggs

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While watching Nemo I think the one cluster had a few hunderd but I'd have to watch it again to be sure :D
 
Hmmmmmm Scotty Scotty scotty


what am I going to do to you...with you i mean


Mike
 
Mike, this depends on many variables....

first..what species are you referring to?

- Ilham :)
 
I figure its the Gold-stripe Maroon clowns. I guess what I said over the phone ;)

Lookin' forward to seeing your tank again on Saturday.

- Ilham
 
I figure its the Gold-stripe Maroon clowns. I guess what I said over the phone ;)

Elmo - can you share what you said over the phone? Also, can you elaborate a little more....I didn't realize different species had different number of clusters at a time?
 
Hi Nikki :) Mike has the Gold-stripe Maroons (Premnas biaculeatus ). What happened was he saw a couple clusters of eggs, of orangish, rusty coloration nearby his rose anemones on the rocks. It was not one larger cluster, but a couple.

Mike's question as to how many eggs to clownfish lay at one time is dependant on the type of clownfish species. Larger species, will lay more eggs, that has been a proven fact (i.e. GSMs, White stripe maroons, Clarkiis, and 'most' Tomato clowns). Now, in addition to that, there are other factors. Food and nutrition is one of them and water quality (including temperature). In Mike's situation, this is probably what happened--the female cleans the nest site along with the male, resulting in visible cuts and bruises to the female's lip and mouth area. The male does not clean as hard, in my opinion and I have observed that my pair does not get these bruises. So the female lays eggs in Mike's tank, and the male fertilizes them. Ok so say about 6-7 days go by. So the eggs have developed, etc...and you can see the eyes and the tail developing within the eggs. Ideally, the eggs hatch anywhere between 6-9 days, and this is temperature dependant. What happens in between this duration is that new eggs are developing inside the female's body, sometimes faster. Now if the temperature is rather on the low side (by that I mean ~78 degrees, which is very very low for clownfish), the eggs will probably hatch in Day 9 or even 10. At the same time, Mike's female clown could not wait that long to lay another set of eggs. So off she goes, cleaning another site with the male, and lays another slightly 'smaller' cluster this time.

One way you can tell if this is exactly the case is to see if the eggs are much more developed in one of the egg clusters, as compared to the other. I have not witnessed a scenario where a female gold-stripe maroon lays her eggs in one place, then switches location on the 'same' egg-laying day. GSM clowns are known for being the best parents out of all the clowns. They clean their site well, they fan their eggs constantly and consistently, and sleep by their eggs at night. Snails or anything that comes nearby is given a full charge by either/both parents. I doubt that they will move sites because of those reasons, although there is always a first.

I hope that clarified some things. These are just what i'm observing, and not necessarily 'text-book' stuff, so please do not take it like the 'clown-bible'.

Thanks,
Ilham
 
In the wild.
Clownfish lay their eggs on any flat surface close to, or preferably under, the protection of the host anemone's tentacles. the eggs are maunly cared for by the male and always hatch in complete darkness after some 7-10 days. Hatching occurs in a natural rhythm directly connected with the phases of the moon. The Larvae - for they are not as well developed as fry in the true sense - thenmigrate upward to the plankton layers of the sea to feed and develop. Many will not survive this stage but of the small number that do, a place must be secured under he protection of a suitable anemone back on the reef floor as quickly as possible.
I read this in one of my aquarium books but none of mine talk about how many eggs a layed or want they do when laying in a aquarium. i have two maroon clowns that have been trying to lay eggs in a shell they don't have a anemone any more it killed itself a few weeks ago trying to get in to my pump inlet hole!
 
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