Amphiprion Melanopus
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''Amphiprion melanopus'', also known as the cinnamon clownfish, fire clownfish, red and black anemonefish, black-backed anemonefish or dusky anemonefish is a widely distributed
anemonefish Clownfishes or anemonefishes (genus ''Amphiprion'') are saltwater fishes found in the warm and tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. They inhabit mainly coral reefs and have a distinctive colouration typically consisting of white vertical bars on ...
chiefly found in the western and southern parts of the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
.. The species
scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
'melanopus' is
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
, meaning black feet in reference to the black pelvic fins. Like all anemonefishes it forms a
symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...
mutualism Mutualism may refer to: * Mutualism (biology), positive interactions between species * Mutualism (economic theory), associated with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon * Mutualism (movement), social movement promoting mutual organizations * Mutualism model o ...
with
sea anemone Sea anemones ( ) are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates constituting the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemone ...
s and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. It is a
sequential hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodit ...
with a strict sized based
dominance hierarchy In the zoological field of ethology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social animal, social groups interact, creating a ranking system. Dif ...
: the female is largest, the breeding male is second largest, and the male non-breeders get progressively smaller as the hierarchy descends. They exhibit
protandry Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is one of the two types of hermaphroditism, the other type being simultaneous hermaphroditism. It occurs when the organism's sex changes at some point in its life. A sequential hermaphrodit ...
, meaning the breeding male will change to female if the sole breeding female dies, with the largest non-breeder becomes the breeding male.


Description

''A. melanopus'' adults can grow to 12 cm (4.7 inches). The body of ''A. melanopus'' is a dark red to orange with mahogany sides. Juveniles and adults have a white head band, which is wide and starts behind the eye, which may gave a blue tint. The
dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...
and
caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
s of the fish have a lighter color than the rest of the fish and can sometimes be a cinnamon color. The
pelvic The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an anatomical trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis or pelvic skeleton). ...
and
anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...
s are usually black.


Similar species

Historically anemonefish have been identified by morphological features, color pattern in the field, while in a laboratory other features such as
scalation In zoology, a scale (; ) is a small rigid plate made out of keratin that grows out of Vertebrate animals' skin to provide protection. In lepidopterans (butterflies and moths), scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, made out of chi ...
of the head, tooth shape and body proportions. These features have been used to group species into 6 complexes. ''A. melanopus'' is in the tomato complex and so is similar to other members of the complex. '' A. rubrocinctus'' and ''A. melanopus'' are similar in appearance but geographically distinct with A. rubrocinctus limited to north western
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. ''A. barberi'' was previously thought to be a geographic variation of ''A. melanopus'' and there are significant color-pattern differences, with A. melanopus having a dark brown or blackish body, compared to the red orange of A. barberi. ''A. melanopus'' also has 19-26 spines in the upper-opercular series while A. barberi has only 11–19. Image:Amphiprion melanopus RLS.jpg, ''A. melanopus'' (Red & Black anemonefish) Image:Anemonefishfiji.jpg, '' A. barberi'' (Barber's anemonefish) Image:Amphiprion rubrocinctus RLS.jpg, '' A. rubrocinctus'' (Australian anemonefish)


Distribution and habitat

''A. melanopus'' is widely distributed in the western Pacific, from the
Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
north to the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...
and
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
,
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
and from
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...
and
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
to eastern
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. It was previously thought to be present in
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
,
Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...
, and the
Samoan Islands The Samoan Islands () are an archipelago covering in the central Pacific Ocean, South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Political geography, Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Samoa, Indep ...
, however that fish has now been described as a separate species, ''A. barberi''.


Host anemones

The relationship between anemonefish and their host sea anemones is not random and instead is highly
nested ''Nested'' is the seventh studio album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. It was released in 1978 on Columbia Records. Following on from her extensive tour to promote 1976's ''Smile'', which resulted in the 1977 live albu ...
in structure. ''A. melanopus'' is a generalist, being usually hosted by 1 anemone, but also hosted by 2 other anemones. It is hosted by the following 3 out of the 10 host anemones: * ''
Entacmaea quadricolor Bubble-tip anemone (''Entacmaea quadricolor'') is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. Like several anemone species, ''E. quadricolor'' can support several anemonefish species, and displays two growth types based on where they ...
'' - bubble-tip or purple base anemone (usually) * ''
Heteractis crispa The sebae anemone (''Radianthus crispa''), also known as leathery sea anemone, long tentacle anemone, or purple tip anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Stichodactylidae and native to the Indo-Pacific. It was first described in 183 ...
'' - leathery sea anemone (occasionally) * ''
Heteractis magnifica ''Radianthus magnifica'', also known by as magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Stichodactylidae that is native to the Hawaii, USA, Indo-Pacific. Description The magnificent sea anemone is chara ...
'' - magnificent sea anemone (rarely) Image:Amphiprion melanopus (Red and black anemonefish) in Entacmaea quadricolor (Bubble sea anemones).jpg, ''A. melanopus'' ''
Entacmaea quadricolor Bubble-tip anemone (''Entacmaea quadricolor'') is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae. Like several anemone species, ''E. quadricolor'' can support several anemonefish species, and displays two growth types based on where they ...
'' (Bubble tip anemone) Image:Amphiprion melanopus (Black anemonefish) in Heteractis magnifica (Magnificent anemone).jpg, ''A. melanopus'' in ''
Heteractis magnifica ''Radianthus magnifica'', also known by as magnificent sea anemone or Ritteri anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Stichodactylidae that is native to the Hawaii, USA, Indo-Pacific. Description The magnificent sea anemone is chara ...
'' - magnificent sea anemone


Diet

Like all anemonefish, ''A. melanopus'' is
omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...
and its diet is based on
zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...
, small
benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...
crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s and
algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...
s.


Conservation status

Anemonefish and their host anemones are found on coral reefs and face similar
environmental issues Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...
. Like
coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
s, anemone's contain intracellular
endosymbiont An endosymbiont or endobiont is an organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism. Typically the two organisms are in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship. Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia), whi ...
s,
zooxanthellae Zooxanthellae (; zooxanthella) is a colloquial term for single-celled photosynthetic organisms that are able to live in symbiosis with diverse marine invertebrates including corals, jellyfish, demosponges, and nudibranchs. Most known zooxanthell ...
, and can suffer from
bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...
due to triggers such as increased water temperature or
acidification Acidification may refer to: * Ocean acidification, decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans * Freshwater acidification, atmospheric depositions and soil leaching of SOx and NOx * Soil acidification, buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the ...
. 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, accounting for decreased densities in exploited areas. While bleaching is a significant threat to anemonefish and their host anemones, there is evidence suggesting that collection compounds the localised impact of bleaching. This species was not evaluated in the 2012 release of the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...


In aquaria

The species has successfully been bred in an aquarium. It may move or cover corals with sand. ''A. melanopus'' may become territorial and aggressive once established in a tank. This fish will accept a variety of foods in the aquarium, including flakes, brine shrimp, mysid shrimp, algae, and pellets.


References


External links

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q253437 Amphiprion Fish described in 1852