DaLilFishie's Guide to Anemonefishes

[DaLilFishie]

Traditionally, the anemonefishes are split into 2 genera - Amphiprion and Premnas, with Premnas being monotypic. The main distinguishing characteristic between these two traditional genera is the presence of large spines on the gill plate of Premnas, which are lacking in Amphiprion. However, recent phylogeny studies have shown that Amphiprion is paraphyletic if Premnas is excluded from it, so Premnas is now ranked as a subgenus within Amphiprion.

All anemonefishes are now placed in genus Amphiprion, which contains 5 subgenera - Actinicola, Premnas, Amphiprion, Paramphiprion and Phalerebus. Within these subgenera are several species groups. Many species are in fact species complexes, and the species contained within are often undescribed. For taxonomy, I will be referring to Amphiprionology

Subgenus Premnas
- Indonesian Maroon Clownfish (A. biaculeatus sensu stricto)
- Northern Maroon Clownfish (A. cf. biaculeatus "Northern")
- Gold Maroon Clownfish (A. epigrammata)
- Melanesian Maroon Clownfish (A. gibbosus)

Subgenus Actinicola
- Percula Clownfish (A. percula)
- Western Ocellaris Clownfish (A. ocellaris sensu stricto)
- Northern Ocellaris Clownfish (A. cf. ocellaris "Northern")
- Indonesian Ocellaris Clownfish (A. cf. ocellaris "Indonesia")

Subgenus Paramphiprion
Latezonatus group
- Wideband Anemonefish (A. latezonatus)

Polymnus group
- Northern Saddleback Anemonefish (A. anamensis)
- Melanesian Saddleback Anemonefish (A. laticlavius)
- Indonesian Saddleback Anemonefish (A. polymnus)
- Sebae Anemonefish (A. sebae)

Subgenus Amphiprion
Clarkii group
- Filipino Clark's Anemonefish (A. chrysargyrus)
- Maldivian Clark's Anemonefish (A. clarkii sensu stricto)
- Andaman Clark's Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Andaman")
- Arabian Clark's Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Arabia")
- Barrier Reef Clark's Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Barrier Reef")
- Caroline Clark's Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Caroline")
- Chagos Clark's Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Chagos")
- Indonesian Clark's Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Indonesia")
- Yellowtip Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Mariana")
- Caledonian Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "New Caledonia")
- Rowley Shoals Anemonefish (A. cf. clarkii "Rowley Shoals")
- Japanese Anemonefish (A. japonicus)
- Western Australian Anemonefish (A. milii)
- Papuan Anemonefish (A. papuensis)
- Ogasawara Black Anemonefish (A. snyderi)
- Three-band Anemonefish (A. tricinctus)

Akindynos group
- Barrier Reef Anemonefish (A. akindynos sensu stricto)
- Caledonia Akindynos Anemonefish (A. cf. akindynos)
- McCulloch's Anemonefish (A. mccullochi)

Chrysopterus group
- Whitetail Bluestripe Anemonefish (A. chrysopterus sensu stricto)
- Blackfin Bluestripe Anemonefish (A. cf. chrysopterus "Blackfin")
- Fijian Bluestripe Anemonefish (A. cf. chrysopterus "Fiji")
- Mariana Bluestripe Anemonefish (A. cf. chrysopterus "Mariana")
- Polynesian Bluestripe Anemonefish (A. cf. chrysopterus "Polynesia")
- Vanuatu Bluestripe Anemonefish (A. cf. chrysopterus "Vanuatu")

Bicinctus group
- African Anemonefish (A. allardi)
- Red Sea Anemonefish (A. bicinctus)
- Mauritian Anemonefish (A. chrysogaster)
- Seychelles Anemonefish (A. fuscocaudatus)
- Wideband Anemonefish (A. latifasciatus sensu stricto)
- Whitemargin Anemonefish (A. cf. latifasciatus "Whitemargin")
- Yellowmargin Anemonefish (A. cf. latifasciatus "Yellowmargin")
- Oman Anemonefish (A. omanensis)

Melanopus group
- Caledonian Melanopus Anemonefish (A. arion)
- Fijian Dusky Anemonefish (A. barberi)
- Fire Anemonefish (A. ephippium)
- Tomato Clownfish (A. frenatus)
- Cinnamon Anemonefish (A. melanopus sensu stricto)
- Micronesian Melanopus Anemonefish (A. cf. melanopus "Micronesia")
- Samoan Melanopus Anemonefish (A. cf. melanopus "Samoa")
- Melanesian Melanopus Anemonefish (A. monofasciatus)
- Redfin Anemonefish (A. rubrocinctus)
- Australian Melanopus Anemonefish (A. verweyi)

Subgenus Phalerebus
Perideraion group
- Sumatran Skunk Anemonefish (A. akallopisos sensu stricto)
- African Skunk Anemonefish (A. cf. akallopisos "Africa")
- Chagos Skunk Anemonefish (A. chagosensis)
- Blackfoot Skunk Anemonefish (A. nigripes)
- Polynesian Skunk Anemonefish (A. pacificus)
- Pink Skunk Anemonefish (A. perideraion sensu stricto)
- Fijian Skunk Anemonefish (A. perideraion "Fiji")
- Micronesian Skunk Anemonefish (A. perideraion "Micronesia")

Sandaracinos group
- Orangefin Skunk Anemonefish (A. sandaracinos)

Hybrids
- Whitebonnet Anemonefish (A. leucokranos)
- Thielle's Anemonefish (A. thiellei)

 

[DaLilFishie]

Subgenus Premnas

Indonesian Maroon Clownfish (A. biaculeatus sensu stricto)

All stripes white in males, the head stripe may have a faint yellow tinge in females. Stripes thin, except for the upper portion of head stripe which is noticeably thicker. Almost identical to Northern Maroon Clownfish, but females of Northern develop a yellow tinge to all stripes rather than just the head stripe.

Occurs from the Sunda Strait, to West Papua and north to Mindanao, Philippines.

Image taken at Museum of Natural Sciences by @vogelcommando

Northern Maroon Clownfish (A. cf. biaculeatus "Northern")

Almost identical to Indonesian Maroon Clownfish, but females may develop a yellow tinge on all body stripes rather than just the head stripe.

Occurs in the Philippines, Northern Borneo, Gulf of Thailand and Taiwan

Photo taken at Aquarium of the Pacific by @Zoological Point. Identification is tentative as lighting makes it hard to tell if the back 2 stripes are yellow tinged, but they have a lighter margin which makes me think they are.

Gold Maroon Clownfish (A. epigrammata)

Easily identifiable by the distinct broad, yellow-tinted stripes in both sexes. Northern Maroon Clownfish can also have yellow stripes in females, but the yellow colouration is duller and the stripes tend to be thinner in that species.

The Gold Maroon Clownfish occurs in the Andaman Sea and West Sumatra. It is valued in the aquarium trade due to it being much more colourful than other maroon clownfish species.

Image taken at Coralandfishstore - Breda by @vogelcommando

Melanesian Maroon Clownfish (A. gibbosus)

Thinner stripes than other maroon clownfishes. Stripes white in both sexes, usually without thickening of the top section of the head stripe. Specimens from New Guinea may show unusual stripe aberrations, it is from these fish that the "Lighting Maroon Clownfish" captive morph was derived.

Occurs in eastern Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands

Image taken at Reef HQ Aquarium by @DaLilFishie. Note that this is an inbred captive-bred fish, hence the unusual body shape. I was unable to find any images in the gallery of not inbred individuals.

 

[DaLilFishie]

Subgenus Actinicola
Percula Clownfish (A. percula)

Very similar to other species in Actinicola - distinguished by dorsal fin spine count (9-10), proportionally shorter dorsal fin, thicker black stripe outlines (the extent is variable however), lighter-coloured eyes, and slightly larger maximum size.

Occurs in New Guinea, Northeast Australia (east of the Torres Strait), and the Solomon Islands.

Image taken at Faunia Madrid by @Kakapo

Western Ocellaris Clownfish (A. ocellaris sensu stricto)
Northern Ocellaris Clownfish (A. cf. ocellaris "Northern")
Indonesian Ocellaris Clownfish (A. cf. ocellaris "Indonesia")

These three species are essentially identical, differing only in genetics and range. Captive-bred individuals may well be hybrids between these species. All 3 can be distinguished from A. percula by dorsal fin spine count (11), proportionally longer dorsal fins, thinner black stripe outlines, darker-coloured eyes and slightly smaller maximum size. A distinct black form occurs in Australia, but I do not know if captive-bred black morphs are descended from this population.

Western Ocellaris occurs in the Andaman Sea, West Sumatra, and possibly Bali
Northern Ocellaris occurs from the Philippines, north to the Ryukyu Islands
Indonesian Ocellaris occurs from Indonesia, Northern and Northwest Australia (west of the Torres Strait).

Image taken at Mote Marine Laboratory by @SusScrofa. I am unsure which ocellaris species this is, but all are essentially identical so this image can represent them all

 

[DaLilFishie]

Subgenus Paramphiprion

Latezonatus group
Wideband Anemonefish (A. latezonatus)

The sole member of it's species group. Unmistakable, body black with extremely wide middle stripe and blue lips. Spiny part of dorsal fin orange/yellow.

Occurs in temperate Eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island and the Norfolk Islands.

Image taken at California Academy of Sciences by @Coelacanth18

 

[DaLilFishie]

Subgenus Paramphiprion

Polymnus group
Northern Saddleback Anemonefish (A. anamensis)

Body colour variable, from completely orange to completely black, but most with both black and orange. Middle stripe short and thick, almost circular in some specimens. Third stripe is absent, and caudal fin black with white margin. Melanesian Saddleback is similar but differs in the orange colouration being yellower in hue.

Occurs from the Philippines north to the Ryukyu Islands

Image taken at Kyoto Aquarium by @DaLilFishie

Melanesian Saddleback Anemonefish (A. laticlavius)

Very similar to Northern Saddleback, but orange colouration is yellower.

Occurs in Melanesia, and possibly the north Coral Sea

No images of this species exist on the Zoochat galleries

Indonesian Saddleback Anemonefish (A. polymnus sensu stricto)

Entirely black body and black fins. Third stripe is present, distinguishing from all other polymnus group species.

Occurs in Indonesia, and rarely the Philippines

Image taken by @Ebirah766

Sebae Anemonefish (A. sebae)

Distinguished from all other polymnus group species by yellow caudal fin and middle stripe reaching belly. Some unusually dark specimens may resemble species of the clarkii group, but can be distinguished by white margin on the rear area of the dorsal fin.

Occurs in the Persian Gulf, Maldives east to Andaman Sea and Bali. Possibly in the Java Sea too.

Image taken at Tokai University Marine Science Museum by @Sicarius

 

[Ebirah766]

I'm glad my photo was good enough to make it into your guide, lol

 

[DaLilFishie]

Just a note I neglected to include in the introduction - Amphiprionology's taxonomy is considered dubious by some, overly splitting species. Several of the species recognised by it could possibly be better considered regional forms or subspecies of other species. However, I feel it is worthwhile to include these as some regional forms can be very distinct from each other, and not including these forms feels to me like a disservice to the diversity of anemonefishes, and some may be interested to know the provenance of captive specimens.