Researchers have described a brand new kind of clownfish, which belongs in the skunk clown group.

Douglas Fenner, Joshua Drew, and Gerald Allen, described this new clownfish as Amphiprion pacificus in their report which was recently published in Aqua, the International Journal of Ichthyology.

Amphiprion pacificus is now being described by scientists who took a look at four specimens which were roughly 4 to 5 centimeters long, and were caught in the western Pacific Ocean, between Tonga and Wallis Island.

However, it should be noted that this “new” fish was also photographed by divers on the coral reefs in Samao and Fiji.

This new species which has been described is almost identical to Amphiprion akallopisos, which makes its home in the Indian Ocean.

Both species of fish have a slightly pinkish brown body and a white stripe along their backs.

Despite the fact that they are almost identical in appearance, genetic testing has suggeste that Amphiprion pacificus is more closely related to Amphiprion sandaracinos, an anemonefish which lives in the Western Australia and indo-Malayan region of the world.

The authors were quoted as saying: “Aside from genetic differences A. sandaracinos differs from A. pacificus in having a uniform orange colouration and the white forehead stripe extends onto the upper lip.

“There also appears to be modal differences in the number of soft dorsal and anal rays (usually 19 versus 18 and 13 versus 12 respectively for A. pacificus and A. sandaracinos).”

If you are interested in learning more about this new discovery, feel free to check out: Allen GR, Drew J and D Fenner (2010) – Amphiprion pacificus, a new species of anemonefish (Pomacentridae) from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Wallis Island, pp. 129-138. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology, Volume 16, Issue 3 – 15 July 2010.

The world’s first public aquarium specialising in clownfish has now opened its door for visitors. The aquarium, which is located in Taitung County in Taiwan, will eventually house 1500 clown fish from 18 different species.

The aim of the clownfish aquarium is to educate the public about clownfish life-cycles and captive breeding techniques, and specimens will be sent to the aquarium by breeders such as the Eastern Marine Biology Research Center in Taitung.

“By meeting market needs we are helping to ease the crisis of clownfish species being endangered”, says researcher and museum planner Ho Yuan-hsing. “Due to the increasing number of artificially-bred clown fish, the fishing of clownfish is no longer seen in Taiwan’s coastal areas because it is unnecessary.”

AC comment:

The movie “Finding Nemo” made a lot of people interested in getting their own “Nemo”, but few were willing to learn how to properly maintain a saltwater aquarium. Before you decide to get a clownfish, please keep in mind that these are marine fishes. Simply adding some salt to your freshwater aquarium will not make is a suitable home for marine fish; not even for the sturdy clownfish. Even though the worst Nemo-craze seems to have cooled off now, a lot of “Nemos” still face an early death in the hands of uninformed fish keepers; deaths that could have been easily prevented.

The oceans of the world absorb a large part of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by us burning fossil fuels, burning forests to make room for fields, etc. This have helped slow down global warming, but new studies shows that it might have a devastating effects on certain fish species such as clown fish. Tests performed on clown fish larvae have shown that increased levels of carbon dioxide can make them disoriented an unable to find a suitable home and avoid predators. The pH level in the ocean has dropped 0.1 since pre-industrial times due to the absorption of carbon dioxide and researchers believe that it will fall another 0.3-0.4 before the end of this century.

This increased acidicy of the water can cause serious problems for clown fish larvae, since clownfish larvae lose the ability to sense vital odours in more acidic waters – probably owing to the damage caused to their olfactory systems. Kjell Døving (Oslo University), co-author of the rapport that was published in US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, says “They can’t distinguish between their own parents and other fish, and they become attracted to substances they previously avoided. It means the larvae will have less opportunity to find the right habitat, which could be devastating for their populations.“

The research indicates that other species might be affected in a similar way and might have a hard time finding their way to suitable habitats if carbon dioxide levels raises in the oceans.

About the study

The study was executed in such a way that the researchers checked how well clownfish larvae could detect smells in normal sea water (pH 8.15) and how well they could detect odours in more acidic water (at levels predicted to be a reality around the year 2100 and later). The test showed that at pH 7.8 the larvae stopped following scent trails released by reefs and anemones and started following sent trails they would normally avoid; scents that are associated with environments not suitable for clown fish. The larvae also lost the ability to use smell to distinguish between their parents and other fish. At pH 7.6 the larvae were unable to follow any kind of odour in the water, and instead swam in random directions.