The creation of our Longfin Phantom Clownfish

The mutation that created our longfin clownfish came from a single fish. In December 2013 our Hatchery Manager Brandon Weik was looking into a tank of several thousand Black and White Ocellaris (also called Darwin Ocellaris). He spotted a fish that looked very different than his brothers (all clownfish are born male). It had long flowing fins and was getting beaten up, probably because of its different look. The fish was isolated and later paired up. A story was published about our findings in Reef Builders in April 2014. You can read the article by clicking here. Black and White Longfin Clownfish was paired up with our Phantom Clownfish to create the Longfin Phantom Clownfish.The black coloration develops identical to the regular Phantom Clownfish. Early juvenile fish are dark brown, but turns jet black as they grow and mature.

Temperament & Captive Care

The temperament and captive care requirements for the Longfin Phantom Clownfish is very similar to that of the regular Ocellaris clownfish. It is relatively peaceful and hardy. They thrive in saltwater aquariums with or without an anemone present.

Feeding

Most clownfish are omnivorous feeders, meaning that they will consume a variety of different food types. In nature the diet of clownfish consists of crustaceans (such as copepods and amphipods), algae, polychaete worms, and leftovers from the anemone’s meal. Our captive bred fish are conditioned to eat a variety of aquarium diets including pellets, flake food, frozen Mysis shrimp, and frozen brine shrimp.

Aquarium Host Anemones

Phantom Clownfish will readily accept a wide variety of host anemones and many hobbyists keep them with the popular and hardy Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). As a reference the natural host anemones of the regular ocellaris clownfish are Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica), Giant Carpet Sea Anemone (Stichodactyla gigantean) and Merten's Carpet Sea Anemone (Stichodactyla mertensii).