Male? Female? Neither?

[gemini9]

I just got 2 clownfish this past weekend. They both came from the same tank at LFS and there were probably about 7 others in there with them. I'm trying to figure out what sex they are, if they have even sexed yet. I bought the two smallest clowns they had. One is maybe an inch and a half and the other is slightly larger. The smaller clown is a bit more detailed with it's markings it seems. It has more black and looks a little darker. It's eyes are darker as well. Looks to be a darker orange than the bigger clown.

The larger clown has a smaller pupil in it's eye than the smaller fish. They don't ever seem to fight. In fact, they seem to get along really well and often swim and eat together. There's no fighting between them whatsoever. They leave the damsel alone, too. They are happy as can be. I don't plan to attempt to breed them or anything, I'm just curious. Are they old enough to even be sexed yet?

 

[jduck]

Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites. Clownfish are hatched sexually immature or in other words sexless, neither male or female. This in the simplest of terms means that they change from sexless to male to female. This is a one way trip; sexless to male never to sexless again and male to female never to male again. They may spend their entire life as a sexually immature fish depending on their environment.

As of now they are most likely sexless. The more dominant of the pair will eventually turn into the female.

 

[gemini9]

They seem young. How long is it before they actually develope their gender?

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

That is fascinating stuff jduck. Are there many other fish like that?

 

[vlangel]

It is fascinating to watch. I bought 2 juvenile tomato clowns for a 90g reef. One was a bully,(who beat up his fellow clown every chance it got) so the other clown became a shrinking violet. I purchased an anemone and of course the bully claimed it while the shrinking violet spent most of its time hiding behind the pump. I noticed that the bully was growing a lot, like 3xs the size of the other clown. I decided that she was a 'she'. Also about this time she must have noticed that there were not any other males to choose from so it was him or nothing. Slowly in a bossy sort of way she invited him to share her anemone. Pretty soon they were preparing the rock nearby as an egg site. They laid eggs and mated twice a month for probably 5-6 years until I sold them as a mated pair. I raised 7 babies in a batch but it was so much work that once was enough. I still have a baby in my 36g tank by itself and it appears gender nonspecific. It/he is about 6 years old now.

 

[gemini9]

Baby clowns? Eggs? Sounds interesting. Wonder if mine will ever have babies. Would be fun if my damsel mated with one of my clowns. Then I'd have a clownsel or a damclown hahaha :tongue:

 

[gemini9]

lol hey c'mon that was funny! get it? damclown? ok so my sense of humor is a little :crazy: sometimes.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

lol hey c'mon that was funny! get it? damclown? ok so my sense of humor is a little :crazy: sometimes.

ound:

vlangel: that was very interesting. I didn't know females were such bullies :wink:

 

[vlangel]

ound:

vlangel: that was very interesting. I didn't know females were such bullies :wink:

She never got over her bossy bullying ways either. When she laid eggs it was his job to fan them. If he even left them even for just a few seconds she was on his butt nipping him and making him go back and fan the eggs. Honestly I felt sorry for the poor henpecked guy.

 

[gemini9]

wow lol that's terrible

 

[vlangel]

lol hey c'mon that was funny! get it? damclown? ok so my sense of humor is a little :crazy: sometimes.

That was funny Gemini and it made me laugh!

 

[vlangel]

wow lol that's terrible

I know, the only time he could swim around a little was between egg laying.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

She never got over her bossy bullying ways either. When she laid eggs it was his job to fan them. If he even left them even for just a few seconds she was on his butt nipping him and making him go back and fan the eggs. Honestly I felt sorry for the poor henpecked guy.

She must have been a victim of bullying herself :whip::yell::tongue:

 

[vlangel]

She must have been a victim of bullying herself :whip::yell::tongue:

I am sure that must have been the case! Ha ha, that is so funny.

 

[gemini9]

poor clowns. They have have such a hard time growing up.

 

[vlangel]

poor clowns. They have have such a hard time growing up.

Yeah and we thought our teenage years were tough!

 

[gemini9]

lol oh my. btw, I still have that siphon sand vac you sent me. I've put it to use. Aren't you the one who sent me that vac?

 

[vlangel]

lol oh my. btw, I still have that siphon sand vac you sent me. I've put it to use. Aren't you the one who sent me that vac?

Yep and I am happy to hear that you put it to use. That's awesome!

 

[gemini9]

Yeah I thought that was you! Thanks again!