ORA Black Deluxe Clarkii Clownfish Captive-Bred

About the ORA Black Deluxe Clarkii Clownfish Captive-Bred

Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Reef Safe: Yes
Diet: Omnivore
Max Size: 5 inches
Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallons

The Deluxe Clarkii is a new clownfish developed at ORA that descends from Solomon Islands Amphiprion clarkii broodstock. Deluxe Clarkii designer clownfish are prized for their shockingly yellow coloration, rich black outlines and variable white stripes. From broken center bars to a nearly complete lack of stripes altogether, the wildly unique Deluxe Clarkii clownfish makes impressive use of color. As they mature, their flanks fill in with black but all of their fins remain fiery yellow!

Clarkii have long been a staple in production at ORA and we’ve worked with broodstock originating from various locations throughout the Pacific.  Most recently we focused our efforts on fish originating in the Solomon Islands due to their contrasting black body with bright yellow fins and face.  One particular pair of these Solomon Islands fish began producing a high percentage of mis-barred offspring, which was something new to us.  We have produced hundreds of thousands of Clarkii clowns over the last two decades and we rarely encounter even a slightly mis-barred specimen. Reliably, half of each brood from this particular pair would exhibit a mis-barred phenotype.  There was certainly something different going on genetically with these Clarkii.  After growing some of these juveniles to an adult size we began to appreciate their unique look, we decided they definitely deserved some attention and now they are available for designer clownfish enthusiasts everywhere.

We first revealed the then-unnamed, Deluxe Clarkii at MACNA 2015.  Those fish can be seen on this episode of Fincasters.  As stated in the video, most of the fish we sell display a uniform yellow coloration due to being grown under dim, hatchery lighting.  In a home aquarium with more intense lighting these fish will develop the black body and contrasting bright yellow fins and face that are characteristic of the Solomon Islands Clarkii this new and unique variety descends from.

The Clarkii does not need an Anemone to survive, but will accept many different Anemones as its host, including corals. It is probably the least picky when it comes to Anemones and will accept Carpet Anemones, Bubble Tip Anemones, Sebae Anemones, or Long Tentacle Anemones as its host.

Clownfish have a very distinct swimming motion that is different from most fish. This is likely passed on through their genetic makeup from centuries of wiggling within the tentacles of Anemones. As the Clownfish wiggles within the stinging tentacles the Anemone’s mucus is likely smeared over the Clownfish’s body, which then protects it from additional stings.

In the wild they live in small groups with one large dominant female, one smaller sexually active male, and a handful of smaller males and juveniles. When the female is lost the largest male will then change sex and become the dominant female with the other Clowns moving up the ladder behind it.