What kind of fish is clown fish?

The clown fish is a common name for the fishes of the subfamily Sparidae, because there are one or two white stripes on the face that look like clowns in Beijing Opera. There are 28 known species, one from the genus spinach and the rest from the genus double saw, native to warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea, and inhabiting coral reefs and reefs, and juvenile fish are often symbiotic with large sea anemones, sea urchins, or small corals.

Clown fish is a tropical saltwater fish with a maximum body length of 11 centimeters. The total number of dorsal spines is 10: 12, the total number of dorsal soft strips is 4: 16, the total number of gluteal spines is 2, the total number of gluteal fin soft strips is 14: 15, all juveniles are black with scales concentrated blue, white patches on the forehead and upper side, all fins are black except the outer part of the pectoral and soft dorsal fins.

Each population of clown fish has a dominant female and several adult males, who are hermaphroditic in adolescence. If the dominant female dies, one of the adult males will undergo hormonal changes and become the new female in the population. During the spawning period, male and female fish have the domain behavior of protecting nests and eggs. One end of their eggs will be fixed to a stone and hatched for a week or so. After the young fish float in the water layer for a period of time, they will inhabit symbiotic organisms such as sea anemones.

The clown fish has special mucus on its body surface, which can protect it from the influence of sea anemones and live safely and freely. Because of the protection of the sea anemone, the clown fish can be protected from other big fish. At the same time, the leftover food of the sea anemone can also be supplied to the clown fish, and the clown fish can also use the tentacles of the sea anemone to build nests and lay eggs. For sea anemones, the free entry and exit of clown fish can attract other fish, increase the chance of predation, and remove the necrotic tissue and parasites of sea anemones, at the same time, because the swimming of clown fish can reduce the deposition of debris into sea anemones.

Clown fish are very domain-minded, usually a pair of male and female fish will occupy a sea anemone, prevent others from entering, if it is a large anemone will also allow some other young fish to join in. In such a large family, the strongest is the female, she and her mate, the male, dominate, and the other members are males and young fish that have not yet shown their characteristics.