Written by John P. Rafferty

common clown fish

Article Free Pass
Written by John P. Rafferty

common clown fish (Amphiprion ocellaris), also called clown anemone fish, false clown fish, or false percula,  species of anemone fish best known for its striking orange and white coloration and its mutualism with certain species of sea anemones. The common clown fish is found on coral reefs in the tropical Pacific and Indian oceans from northwestern Australia, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia to Taiwan and Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. The species achieved popular recognition through its depiction in the animated feature film Finding Nemo (2003).

The orange coloration on the body is broken up by three white bands with thin black borders. Most individuals also have 11 dorsal fin spines, a characteristic that often is used to distinguish the species from the orange clown anemone fish (Amphiprion percula), which is nearly identical. The common clown fish also has a muddy brown ring around the pupil of the eye, whereas the ring in the pupil of the orange clown anemone fish is clear. Common clown fish can grow to 11 cm (about 4 inches) in length.

The diet of the common clown fish is largely made up of algae and small invertebrates (such as zooplankton and marine isopods); however, parts of organisms killed by the host anemone, as well as cast-off parts of the anemone itself, are also consumed.


All common clown fish are born with immature male and female sex organs, and each individual has the ability to change sex depending on environmental conditions. The male sex organs mature first, which leads to the common misperception that all common clown fish are born male.

The basic unit of common clown fish society is a group made up of a female (the largest member), the breeding male (the second largest member), and several nonbreeding neuter individuals with undeveloped sex organs. Should the female die, the largest remaining member of the group will become female, and the second largest individual will serve as the next breeding male after its male sex organs fully develop.

Breeding, which takes place throughout the year, begins when a female lays between 100 and 1,000 eggs. To deposit the eggs, the female drags her ovipositor over the substrate of a nest made clean earlier by the breeding male; filaments on the eggs facilitate their attachment to the substrate. The nest may occur within a sea anemone or on a nearby rock protected by a sea anemone’s overhanging tentacles. After the breeding male fertilizes the eggs, both parents guard them until they hatch some 8–12 days later. Parental care ceases at this time, and the young float away on ocean currents. At sea, many of the young are eaten by various predators. However, after approximately two weeks, surviving young begin to explore nearby coral reefs for an appropriate sea anemone host.

Mutualism with sea anemones

Survival of the common clown fish depends on mutualism with sea anemones. The fish are primarily associated with three species of anemones—Heteractis magnifica, Stichodactyla gigantea, and S. mertensii. The anemone’s tentacles, which contain numerous nematocysts (or stinging cells) that are used to immobilize the anemone’s prey, protect the common clown fish from its predators. In return, the fish cleans parasites from the anemone’s body and prevents butterfly fishes (family Chaetodontidae) from consuming the anemone’s tentacles. Icthyologists contend that common clown fish are protected from the anemone’s nematocysts by a mucous coating that keeps the fish from being recognized as food, thus inhibiting the anemone’s stinging behaviour. There is also evidence that common clown fish have developed some level of resistance to the anemone’s sting.

Take Quiz Add To This Article
Share Stories, photos and video Surprise Me!


Please select the sections you want to print
Select All
MLA style:
"common clown fish". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
APA style:
common clown fish. (2014). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1711725/common-clown-fish
Harvard style:
Chicago Manual of Style:
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "common clown fish", accessed July 28, 2014, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1711725/common-clown-fish.


We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles.
(Please limit to 900 characters)

Or click Continue to submit anonymously: