These fish live in a hierarchy system with a single breeding pair and several nonbreeding males. These male juveniles are theorised to hang around the breeding pair for the chance of one day moving high enough on the hierarchy to gain reproductive rights themselves. The biggest and most dominant fish at the top of the hierarchy is a female, who herself is “born” when the biggest male changes sex.
A Family of Clark's #Anemonefish in Fiji.
#scuba #diving #nature #fiji #wildlife #sealife #coral #reef
Today the sea is flat, and the sun is shining. The dive boats are loaded with tanks and scuba gear. We head towards a new dive site about 45 minutes from the resort.
One by one, buddy teams descend along a sloping sea wall in the Koro Sea.
I see a family of Clark’s Anemonefish, and I can’t resist stopping and observing them swim in and around the Anemone.
Clark’s Anemonefish
More underwater…
Allard’s anemonefish, also called the two-banded clown, are a hardy, bold species of clownfish, which tends to roam further from their anemone than many clownfish do. They often attack other fish that get close to their anemone, fiercely defending their home and eggs from predators. They will also lure fish to their anemone in order to feed the anemone, as these fish are not immune to the anemone’s stings like the anemonefish.
While the Allard’s anemonefish may roam further from their anemone than most species of clownfish, they still crave familiarity and their comfort zone at the end of the day, as they stay with the same anemone for life and depend on it entirely for their survival. If a smaller, weaker, more passive fish joins their anemone after them, they may bully them, though they will deign to coexist with other semi-aggressive fish.
All clownfish are hierarchical, territorial, and competitive to some degree, and have strict dominance hierarchies in their anemones. They usually live with a partner or small group in their anemones, but they can be quite aggressive towards anemonefish of different species. The non-breeding clownfish in an anemone do not help the breeding pair tend to their eggs, as they are always looking for opportunities to oust the main breeding pair and take over the anemone themselves. The main breeding pair, however, works tirelessly to tend to their eggs until they hatch, fanning them to make sure they get the right amount of oxygen and eating bad eggs to make sure they don’t infect other healthy eggs. These clownfish are also monogamous, pairing for life.
Sam is dependable, diligent, and protective. Ami is ambitious, obsessive, and possessive.
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NAME MEANING
”Amina” is the feminine form of Arabic Amin, meaning "honest, trustworthy," and it's also a Hebrew name meaning "faithful, trusted."
The Bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) is a species of sea anemone in the family Actiniidae which is native to the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans being found in particular abundance in the Red Sea. In the wild, E. quadricolor are found in two locations. Large adult specimens, with tentacles that are more streaming or stringy, are often found in deeper waters with more dimly lit conditions. These specimens are often solitary, while smaller, younger specimens are often located in groups or colonies nearer to the surface, in bright sunlight. These specimens tend to show the bulbous tips on their tentacles that are characteristic of E. quadricolor. A characteristic of E. quadricolor is its ability to maintain a symbiotic relationship with anemonefish, anemone shrimp, porcelain crabs, and domino damsels which can be "hosted" by the anemone by providing it with defence against predators and also providing some nourishment. In turn, the anemone provides the fish/ crustacean with shelter. These anemones get the majority of there energy from from solar radiation via its symbiotic zooxanthellae, and can also obtain nutrients by filter feeding using its sweeping tentacles, or through wastes and debris cleaned from the surface of its partner fish/ crustacean. E. quadricolor anemones appear in a variety of colors including rose, orange, red, and green. This sea anemone can grow to be up to nearly a foot in diameter. There breeding season lasts from January to april during such time they broad cast spawn, with each anemone releasing its gametes into the water column to join with others and form free-swimming planula larvae which remain in the open water for up to 59 days before settling down on the sea floor to grow into there adult form. They can also reproduce asexually using longitudinal fission. Under ideal conditions a bubble tip anemone may live several hundred years.
The first animal I chose is "Nemo"? Before I learned scuba diving, I thought I had to dive in a foreign sea to see clownfish, but it turns out they can be found in the waters of Hong Kong too! However, they are not the same species as "Nemo"! And they are not as cute as I imagined because they would swim over and bite divers!