True or False Clownfish

[billie6227]

I bought this Clownfish online and was told it was a True Percula. The picture was of the one that I was buying, but I wanted an additional one. When they arrived, I saw that one of them was a True Percula, but the other was a different color. I messaged the seller and he assured me that the two I purchased were True Perculas. He said that sometimes they come in different colors. I have looked online trying to figure it out, but I am not sure. Help Please

 

[returnofsid]

The best way is to count the dorsal spines. That's about the only true way to tell them apart. Occellaris have 1 more than Percs.

 

[Vicki]

I bought this Clownfish online and was told it was a True Percula. The picture was of the one that I was buying, but I wanted an additional one. When they arrived, I saw that one of them was a True Percula, but the other was a different color. I messaged the seller and he assured me that the two I purchased were True Perculas. He said that sometimes they come in different colors. I have looked online trying to figure it out, but I am not sure. Help Please

A picture would definitely help.

Here's a link on how to do it.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=78790&postcount=1

Vicki

 

[billie6227]

It says that my upload exceeds the given limit. Maybe if someone gives me their email address I could show you.

 

[Snowboarda42]

email me the pics and I will upload them for you

[email protected]

 

[billie6227]

sending the picture

I'm sending the picture through an email now to [email protected], my email address is [email protected]

 

[Boomer]

Other than what returnofsid stated there are two other thing that usually work out. The A ocellaris *never* has a thick black margin along the white band but more like thin pencil thick. Also, the middle bar of the A percula projects forward almost like a narrow finger. In the A ocellaris it is more of short thumb like.

edit

I forgot, in almost any fish when doing spine count or fin ray counts there is always an overlap of the count. In these two fish it is 9-10 vs 10-11. ~95% of the time it is 10 vs 11

 

[Snowboarda42]

 

[Vicki]

It's difficult to be positive from your pictures, but I do believe it is a Percula; probably a pretty young one.

Maybe one of the clown 'experts' around here will chime in shortly!

Vicki

 

[Boomer]

Those are perc's

 

[billie6227]

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure it's a True Percula after looking at some videos on youtube.com.

 

[trillyen]

no its a false perc true percs have bolder black stripes emerging from the white stripes

dont you have a marine fish bible???

 

[Boomer]

Ah, those lines are way to bold to be ocellaris which have very thin pencil lines. Second, the middle white bar is projected out foward and finger like, as it is in perc's and not thumb like, as it is in ocell's, which is quite evident from the pics.

 

[Rod Buehler]

As Boomer pointed out, the spine thing is not always true because they overlap (9/10 - 10/11). The pointing finger is a new one on me, and still doesnt hold water IMO/IME. The baring can and does vary from fish to fish. When I have new hatches, the baring will always be different. Sometimes nearly a straight line with no finger

IMO the best method of ID (but not 100%) is the ring around the eye. Percs will have a bright orange ring were the occelaris will have a muddy orange ring. Camera flash can play tricks so be careful when IDing from a pic with flash.

My guess is that it is a perc

 

[Boomer]

New hatches Rod yes, but show me a adult or subadult that is not as I say One could also do fine ray counts of the pec's, anal and pelv's or a laterial line counts. Those things I mentioned are not something I dreamemt up but are TLG ( Taxonomic Key Guides) for the ocell's and perc's. The best key is the broad black margin on the white bars, ocells' never have this.

 

[billie6227]

Those pictures are from a distance. The clownfish is not picture friendly. But the black bars are thick and the orange color is a little different.

 

[returnofsid]

From the pic, I would also say True Percs.

 

[Elmo18]

Amphiprion percula.


Regards,
Ilham

 

[Rod Buehler]

New hatches Rod yes, but show me a adult or subadult that is not as I say One could also do fine ray counts of the pec's, anal and pelv's or a laterial line counts. Those things I mentioned are not something I dreamemt up but are TLG ( Taxonomic Key Guides) for the ocell's and perc's. The best key is the broad black margin on the white bars, ocells' never have this.

Boomer, I wasnt saying that you dreamt them up, just that I had never heard of the pointing finger. After raising a few thousand percula clowns and seeing many without a pointing finger at adult/sub-adult age, I just wanted to point out that the pointing finger isnt always a fool proof way of ID. The mid-bar on my 10+ year old male is nearly a straight line.