Orange clownfish

Amphiprion percula

Vivid orange flanks broken by three distinct vertical white bands make the orange clownfish one of the most recognizable damselfishes on shallow Indo-Pacific coral reefs. While often confused with the common ocellaris clownfish, Amphiprion percula is distinguished by exceptionally broad black borders framing each white bar, a brighter orange iris, and typically ten rather than eleven dorsal spines. This species ranges across the southwestern Pacific, including northern Queensland, Melanesia, and the Great Barrier Reef. Pairs and small hierarchical social units dwell among the venomous tentacles of sea anemones, primarily Heteractis magnifica and Stichodactyla gigantea, between one and fifteen meters depth. These partnerships grant vital shelter from open-water predators in exchange for territorial defence and nutrient exchange. Diet consists of planktonic copepods, benthic algae, and organic debris. As protandrous hermaphrodites, breeding groups consist of a dominant female and a smaller male; should the female perish, the reproductive male rapidly undergoes sex reversal to assume the dominant matriarch role. Total length reaches up to eleven centimeters.

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