Pacific anemonefish
| Pacific anemonefish | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Amphiprion pacificus | ||||||||||||
| Allen , Drew & Fenner , 2010 | ||||||||||||
The Pacific anemonefish ( Amphiprion pacificus ) is a species of anemonefish found in the coral reefs of the Fiji Islands , Tongas , Samoas and the Wallis Islands in the central Pacific. It was only described in 2010 .
features
The largest type specimen of Amphiprion pacificus had a length of 4.8 centimeters. Amphiprion pacificus is very similar to the white-backed anemonefish ( Amphiprion akallopisos ) from the Indian Ocean, but genetic tests have shown that it is more closely related to the west Pacific orange anemonefish ( Amphiprion sandaracinos ). In contrast to the white-backed anemonefish, its color is not so uniform, but rather pink-brown on the back and turns into a yellowish or orange color towards the belly. The white stripe that runs down the back and over the top of the head begins between the eyes and does not reach the upper lip. Furthermore, the two species differ in the number of soft rays in the dorsal and anal fin, which is slightly higher in Amphiprion pacificus with 19 in contrast to 18 and 13 in contrast to 12.
Way of life
Amphiprion pacificus lives closely tied to coral reefs in water depths of 4 to 10 meters. Like all anemonefish, it lives in symbiosis with large sea anemones . He prefers the magnificent anemone ( Heteractis magnifica ). The species is brood-tending and sticks its eggs, which are guarded by the male, on a solid substrate.
literature
- Gerald R. Allen , Joshua Drew & Douglas Fenner: Amphiprion pacificus, a new species of anemonefish (Pomacentridae) from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Wallis Island. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology, Volume 16, Issue 3 - 15 July 2010, pages 129-138, ISSN 0945-9871
Web links
- Amphiprion pacificus on Fishbase.org (English)