Amphiprion perideraion are preyed on by large, predatory fish, notably groupers (Serranidae). The primary defense used by these fish is their ability to survive within sea anemones. The toxic stings of anemones protects resident fish from predators.
Known Predators:
Amphiprion perideraion are typically pink to pinkish orange in color. Fins are pale to transparent. They have a very distinct white dorsal stripe extending from the head to the caudal tail. A second, vertical, stripe is observed between the head and the rest of the body. Amphiprion perideraion have 9 or 10 well-developed dorsal spines and 2 anal spines. They have 16 or 17 dorsal soft rays and 12 or 13 anal soft rays. Likewise, they have highly developed pharyngeal teeth and a premaxilla with an ascending process, resulting in very effective suction feeding.
They reach a maximum length of 10 cm (Lieske and Myers, 1994; Fautin and Allen, 1992).
Similar species include A. nigripes, A. leucokranos, A. akallopisos and A. sandaracinos. Amphiprion nigripes can be distinguished by a black belly, pelvic area and anal fins and a more reddish color. Amphiprion leucokranos have much wider and broader stripes which don't extend the full lenth of the body. The remaining two species lack the white head bar present in A. perideraion.
Females are slightly longer than males at 5.5 cm (compared to 4.6 cm) at maturity.
Range length: 10 (high) cm.
Average length: 4.6-5.5 cm.
Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: female larger
Currently, there is very little available data regarding the lifespan of Amphiprion. Some data suggests that the lifespan is around ten years. Amphiprion percula have a record of 18 years in captivity.
Communication among Amphiprion perideraion is not well-understood. They perceive their environment through visual, chemical, and tactile cues and are likely to use these modes of perception in communication.
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; chemical
This species is not listed as endangered or threatened and there are no immediately forseeable plans to place it on the IUCN Red List.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
Once the eggs of A. perideraion hatch, they take on a planktonic form where they are carried from the natal host anemone and float in the water column.
At the end of their larval period, A. perideraion enter a juvenile stage where they metamorphose. Metamorphosis involves the development of the white bands as well as a general migration to different depths of water and host anemones. Evidence suggests that juveniles progressively forage in a smaller area as they become adults.
Members of the genus Amphiprion occupy a single anemone for their entire life, rarely swimming more than several meters from their host. These groups consist of one female, but many include several males. The female is the largest member of the colony and the dominant male is the next largest. The others, while male, are functionally sterile unless one of the two dominant fishes die.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis ; indeterminate growth
There are no known adverse effects of Amphiprion perideraion on humans. They are considered harmless.
Amphiprion perideraion is a common aquarium fish and is thus of economic value to humans. They are quite appealing to divers, and their presence may encourage ecotourism.
Positive Impacts: pet trade ; ecotourism
Amphiprion perideraion live with their host anemone in a symbiotic relationship. These fish are coated with a mucus which helps to protect them from the sting of the anemone. The toxic stings of anemones protect anemone fish from predators and anemones obtain food particles in the water column as a result of anemone feeding.
Species Used as Host:
Mutualist Species:
A. perideraion use suction feeding. The maxilla pushes the premaxilla forward, which causes an area of low pressure inside the mouth, resulting in suction.
Amphiprion perideraion exploit a wide range of phytoplankton (blue-green algae and diatoms), zooplankton and zoobenthos. This makes them omnivorous generalists. Amphiprion perideraion collect food from surrounding areas near their host anemones. They have also been known to consume food leftover from their host.
Studies have shown that Amphiprion melanopus experience a rapid growth during their juvenile stage. This rate is affected by contact with sunlight, likely due to a higher abundance of plankton. It's likely that there's selective pressure for larger fish, as smaller ones do not have the chance to mate.
Animal Foods: aquatic or marine worms; aquatic crustaceans; other marine invertebrates; zooplankton
Plant Foods: algae; phytoplankton
Primary Diet: omnivore ; planktivore
Amphiprion perideraion are distributed throughout tropical regions in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. Their range includes the Gulf of Thailand, Cocos Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. In the Indo-Australian Archipelago in the Pacific, they are found from Samoa and Tongo, north to the Ryukyu Islands, Fiji, and Micronesia, extending southward to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native ); indian ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )
These fish are found in lagoons and seaward reefs (Fautin and Allen, 1992; Myers, 1991). They are non-migratory fish living in brackish marine water with depths ranging up to 38 meters and temperatures around 25°C. These fish live in symbiotic relationships with various sea anenomes including Heteractis crispa, Hetaractis magnifica, Macrodactyla doreensis and Stichodactyla gigantea. Amphiprion perideraion often occurs in the same environment with the closely related Amphiprion akallopison, often in the same anemone (Kuiter and Tonozuka, 2001).
Range depth: 1 to 38 m.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; saltwater or marine
Aquatic Biomes: reef ; coastal
Amphiprion perideraion are monogamous fish where only two of the representatives of a group are actually involved in the mating. The female and dominant male are strictly monogamous. When the female dies, the largest male undergoes a sex change and becomes the mating female. After this, the second largest male actively becomes involved in mating.
In spawning, male A. ocellaris chase females, passing over the nest. With each pass, the female lays a line of eggs which adhere to the rock surface. The male then fertilizes the eggs and protects them from predators.
Mating System: monogamous
Amphiprion perideraion spawn several times between April and August, but sometimes as early as February, depending on the conditions. In this species, the largest fish is always the female and the second largest fish is always the male. Fish are male first until the female dies (protandrous). During a year, the pair may produce between 2000 and 4000 eggs. Both males and females reach maturity between 1.75 and 1.83 years of age.
While little research has actually been done on the reproductive mechanisms of A. perideraion, a similar species Ampiprion ocellaris showed several interesting reproductive mechanisms. Females control males through agression and chase away other females. Dominant males build a nest on a bare rock face near an anemone. Courtship behavior in A. ocellaris includes the extension of spines, biting, and chasing.
Breeding interval: Amphiprion perideraion will breed several times a year with no obvious peak season.
Breeding season: They breed between April and August.
Range number of offspring: 2000 to 4000.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1.75 to 1.83 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1.75 to 1.83 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sequential hermaphrodite (Protandrous ); sexual ; fertilization (External ); oviparous
Male Amphiprion perideraion protect the developing eggs while they are attached to the substrate just outside of the host anemone, for about 6 to 8 days. When the eggs hatch, the larvae leave the host anemone.
Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning); pre-hatching/birth (Protecting: Male)
The pink skunk clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion), also known as the pink anemonefish, is a species of anemonefish that is widespread from northern Australia through the Malay Archipelago and Melanesia.[2] Like all anemonefishes, it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host. It is a sequential hermaphrodite with a strict size-based dominance hierarchy; the female is largest, the breeding male is second largest, and the male nonbreeders get progressively smaller as the hierarchy descends.[3] They exhibit protandry, meaning the breeding male changes to female if the sole breeding female dies, with the largest nonbreeder becoming the breeding male.[2]
The body of A. perideraion is pink to peach. It has the white stripe along the dorsal ridge that is common to all members of the skunk complex and a white head bar running vertically just behind the eye.[2] While the largest species of anemonefish can reach a length of 18 cm (7.1 in), A. perideraion is one of the smallest species, with females growing to a length of 10 cm (3.9 in).[2]
Some anemonefish species have color variations based on geographic location, sex, and host anemone. A. perideraion, like other members of the skunk complex, does not show any of these variations.[2]
A. perideraion is included in the skunk complex, so has similarities with other species in this complex. The combination of dorsal stripe and head bar distinguishes it from most other species. A. akallopisos, A. sandaracinos, and A. pacificus all lack a white head bar, while A. nigripes lacks the dorsal stripe and has black belly and black pelvic and anal fins. The hybrid A. leucokranos has a broader head bar and the dorsal stripe does not extend the full length of the dorsal ridge.[2]
A. perideraion showing the distinctive narrow head bar and dorsal stripe
A. perideraion hovering above purple-tip anemone
A. akallopisos (skunk anemonefish) lacks a white head bar.
A. sandaracinos (orange anemonefish) lacks a white head bar.
The hybrid A. leucokranos has a white bonnet that does not extend the length of the dorsal ridge.
A. nigripes (Maldive anemonefish) lacks the dorsal strip and has a black belly, pelvic and anal fins.
A. perideraion is found throughout the Malay Archipelago and Melanesia, in the west Pacific Ocean from the Great Barrier Reef and Tonga, north to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan and in the eastern Indian Ocean from Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, through the Rowley Shoals, Scott and Ashmore Reefs, Cocos and Christmas Islands to Sumatra. It inhabits reef lagoons and outer reef slopes.[4] A. perideraion has been thought to be found at depths of 3–20 m,[4] but surveys using autonomous underwater vehicles of mesophotic reefs at Viper Reef and Hydrographers Passage in the central Great Barrier Reef observed A. perideraion at depths between 50 and 65 m.[5] A. perideraion and A. clarkii are the only anemonefish found on both the east and west coasts of Australia.[2]
While the morphological features of A. perideraion are consistent throughout its range, genetic analysis of fish in the Indo-Malay Archipelago has shown a genetic break between the Java Sea population (Karimun Java) and all other locations. A north-to-south connection exists from the Philippines to the rest of the archipelago and a mixing of central populations along the strong current of the Indonesian throughflow.[6]
The relationship between anemonefish and their host sea anemones is not random and instead is highly nested in structure.[7] A. perideraion is a generalist, consistent with its widespread distribution, being hosted by the following four of the 10 host anemones: [2][4][7]
Unusually for anemonefish, A. perideraion has been observed sharing a host with other species, including A. clarkii [8] and A. akallopisos.[9]
The natural diet of anemonefish includes zooplankton, (diatoms and copepods), benthic worms, tunicates, and algae. A. perideraion is the only species of anemonefish to primarily feed on algae. [2]
Anemonefish and their host anemones are found on coral reefs and face similar environmental issues. Like corals, anemones contain intracellular endosymbionts, zooxanthellae, and can suffer from bleaching due to triggers such as increased water temperature or acidification. Local populations and genetic diversity remain vulnerable to high level of exploitation of these species and their host anemones by the global ornamental fish trade.[10] This species was not evaluated in the 2012 release of the IUCN Red List.
It has successfully been bred in an aquarium.[9] In an aquarium, hobbyists have fed the species brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, chopped shellfish, and dried algae.[9][11]
Pink anemonefish at Bunaken National Park, Indonesia
A. perideraion
Two pink skunk clownfish (A. perideraion) and their closed host anemone, in Komodo
Several A. perideraion at Komodo
A. perideraion in a bleached anemone near Batu Moncho
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Pink anemonefish at Wakatobi National Park, Indonesia
The pink skunk clownfish (Amphiprion perideraion), also known as the pink anemonefish, is a species of anemonefish that is widespread from northern Australia through the Malay Archipelago and Melanesia. Like all anemonefishes, it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host. It is a sequential hermaphrodite with a strict size-based dominance hierarchy; the female is largest, the breeding male is second largest, and the male nonbreeders get progressively smaller as the hierarchy descends. They exhibit protandry, meaning the breeding male changes to female if the sole breeding female dies, with the largest nonbreeder becoming the breeding male.
