A wide range of clownfish morphs has hit the shops in recent years, some of them fetching big money. So could the offspring of this long-finned specimen, recently discovered in a grow-out tank at a US breeding facility, become the next big thing in designer clowns?
Sustainable Aquatics, based in Tennessee in the US, recently posted the above picture on its Facebook page. This long-finned clownish was rescued from one of the grow-out tanks at the company's breeding facility after a member of staff discovered him being harassed by his siblings, presumably because he was different. The rather unusual-looking little chap was isolated and has since healed well.
He has now been paired up with a wild-caught female Ocellaris to see if the long-fin feature breeds true — if it does then Sustainable Aquatics hopes to cross the offspring in the near future with a wide variety of other designer clowns, which are also produced at its facility.
So far there's no name for this new variant — at the moment he's just being referred to as 'Longfin'. Sustainable Aquatics says: "We will be taking suggestions from anyone who has an idea for a great name. If this breeds true and we select your name, the winner will be rewarded with two fish before they are released!
"The pair has begun spawning and we expect in the next few weeks they will be successfully tending a nest. We do not know if the long-fin feature will breed true, though such mutations are often dominant. We have seen perhaps 25,000 offspring from Longfin’s parents and this is the first manifestation of this feature. We would expect such a mutation would not survive in the wild.
"Hopefully, in a few months we can show their offspring and we will find out if this trait breeds true! Stay tuned!"
Suggestions for names can be sent to: [email protected]
The Tennessee SA Hatchery has bred dozens of species from resident broodstock and every month provides tens of thousands of fish, including clownfish, gobies, dottybacks, cardinals, blennies, seahorses and damsels to retailers around the US and the globe.
You can find out more about Sustainable Aquatics on its website.
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