Maroon clownfish

Maroon clownfish
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Family:	Pomacentridae
Subfamily:	Amphiprioninae
Genus:	Premnas Cuvier, 1816
Species:	P. biaculeatus
Binomial name
Premnas biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)
Synonyms
Chaetodon biaculeatus Bloch, 1790 Holocentrus sonnerat Lacepède, 1802 Lutianus trifasciatus Schneider, 1801 Premnas epigrammata Fowler, 1904 Premnas gibbosus Castelnau, 1875 Premnas semicinctus Cuvier, 1830 Premnas unicolor Cuvier, 1829 Sargus ensifer Gronow, 1854

Premnas biaculeatus, commonly known as spine-cheeked anemonefish or the maroon clownfish, is a species of anemonefish (found swimming near anemones) found in the Indo-Pacific from western Indonesia to Taiwan and the Great Barrier Reef. They can grow up to be about 17 cm (6.7 in). Like all anemonefishes it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. 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. The fish's natural diet includes algae and zooplankton.

Gallery

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  Maroon clownfish
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  Maroon clownfish and a tang

References

• Fenner, Bob. 2005. Premnas biaculeatus - The Maroon Clownfish. SeaScope, Aquarium Systems, Inc. 22(1): 1-3.
• Bray, D.J. (2011). "Spine-cheek Clownfish, Premnas biaculeatus". Fishes of Australia. Archived from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2023-08-28.