Seems like LiveAquaria is having a bit of success with their new McCulloch’s Clownfish. We first wrote about them in early June with our Live Aquaria Breeding McCulloch’s Clownfish article, and in later updates.
Well, Live Aquaria has posted another update on these gorgeous, expensive little clownfish:
08/14/09 UPDATE From Kevin Kohen:
Clownfish
The picture is from the first rearing attempt which took place back in early June, 2009. The fish is now approximately 2 cm in length, and is in a nano cube aquarium with a pair of Liopropoma carmabi Basslets. It is amazing to see that as juvenile fish they have amazing lime green to yellow coloration on their face, upper margins of the pectoral fins, and on their caudal peduncle (base of the tail). Like other clownfish species in the Ephippium Complex, these fish will gradually loose the stripe on the caudal peduncle then the second stripe running vertically from their anal fin to their secondary dorsal fin as they grow and mature into adults.
Well, the McCulloch’s project is still going strong. The parents are consistently spawning every 12-14 days so properly conditioning them between spawns is what we have been focusing on. These fish prefer to eat small quantities of food often; therefore, we are trying to feed 8-10 times per day with a mixture of fresh enriched frozen foods, and a variety of dry pelletized food (their preferred food) as I am sure they were raised on dry foods based upon their feeding response to each food type.
After missing a few consecutive hatches due to the parents choosing to lay their eggs on an adjacent rock next to their favorite anemone, we have a very nice nest that was laid on a tile which took place at 3:00 CST
McCulloch's Clownfish Juvenile
on Monday August 11th. We are looking forward to transferring this tile on Monday August 18th to their rearing vessel so we have an opportunity to work with a very nice size group of eggs. With every consecutive spawn, the nest appears to be more robust which should significantly increase the chances of successfully rearing a larger number of fishes.
Like a handful of other species of Amphiprion, every batch has hatched over the course of two or three days. The first larvae that hatch are normally only 6-10 individuals where the remainder hatches out the following evening or the next day. This becomes challenging, as the first larvae appear to be the strongest of the bunch and have the best chances to survive to the metamorphous phase where the larvae develop all of their fins and color.
The rotifer production is becoming more consistent and stable, as this is critical for the development of the larvae. Marine Rotifers are tiny multicellular animals that are approximately 40 microns in size (they look like a speck of dust) and consume phytoplankton. Rotifers are food of choice to feed newly hatched larvae clownfish. For the five days, each individual clownfish larvae need to consume 1500 individual rotifers per day, so having strong, consistent rotifers cultures are a must to rear the larvae. After five days on a diet of only rotifers, the larvae are gradually switched over to a mixture of rotifers, newly hatched decapsulated artemia, and Otohime larvae diet.
As you can imagine, it takes a significant amount of work, time, and effort to be successful. Any mistake or hiccup in the process to the meta phase will result in very low or no yield. Furthermore, it appears as though the larvae get stronger with each consecutive spawn, which will hopefully help us in our goal of having more significant yields so that we will be able to offer these fishes into the marketplace in early 2010. Currently, we have a handful of healthy juvenile fishes but the quantity of viable juvenile fishes is growing with each consecutive spawn. Stay tuned for more!
This is the caption for the picture above posted by Live Aquaria
The picture is from the first rearing attempt which took place back in early June, 2009. The fish is now approximately 2 cm in length, and is in a nano cube aquarium with a pair of Liopropoma carmabi Basslets. It is amazing to see that as juvenile fish they have amazing lime green to yellow coloration on their face, upper margins of the pectoral fins, and on their caudal peduncle (base of the tail). Like other clownfish species in the Ephippium Complex, these fish will gradually loose the stripe on the caudal peduncle then the second stripe running vertically from their anal fin to their secondary dorsal fin as they grow and mature into adults.
© 2009 Foster & Smith, Inc. Reprinted as a courtesy and with permission from http://www.LiveAquaria.com
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