Red Anemonefish

The red anemonefish is a dark-sided clownfish with a red snout and fins, found only in north-west Australia, where a breeding male can turn into a female when the ruling female dies.

It lives in pairs and family groups with its host anemone, in shallow lagoons and on coastal reefs at about 1 to 8m, from Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia to Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory. It rarely strays far from the anemone, so that is the place to look for it.

Appearance

The sides are blackish or deep brown, with red on the snout, chest, belly and fins. One white bar crosses the head, though it is often faint and has little or no black edge. That single weak bar sets it apart from the four other anemonefish commonly seen in its range. Amphiprion perideraion and Amphiprion sandaracinos have a white stripe along the back, while Amphiprion clarkii and Amphiprion ocellaris have three white bars.

Two close relatives look more alike. Tomato anemonefish males are entirely bright red and the females have a stronger bar, while Barber's anemonefish has no dark sides and lives elsewhere.

Behaviour

It is choosy about its home, using only two of the nine host anemones within its range: usually the bubble-tip anemone, otherwise the giant carpet anemone. As with all anemonefish, the partnership benefits both sides and the stinging tentacles do it no harm. Its natural diet includes zooplankton.

Life cycle

Life in the anemone follows a strict order of size. The biggest fish is the female, next comes the breeding male, and non-breeding males rank below him, each smaller than the last. When the female dies, the breeding male turns into a female and the largest non-breeder moves up to take his place.

Threats

Anemones suffer the same troubles as corals, and can bleach when the water warms or turns more acidic, which puts the fish that depend on them at risk too. The small range of this species is a concern, though being able to use two kinds of host may lower the risk compared with a true specialist. It is listed as of least concern in the Northern Territory.