Skunk Clownfish Care Guide
Amphiprion akallopisos, the skunk clownfish, is a slender Indian Ocean anemonefish with a pink-orange body and a single white dorsal stripe and no head bar.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Amphiprion akallopisos, the skunk clownfish, is a reef-associated damselfish of the family Pomacentridae. It has a slender, light-orange body with a single narrow white stripe running from the mouth along the back to the caudal peduncle, and no head bar. It reaches a maximum standard length of about 11 cm.
Taxonomy
- Family: Pomacentridae
- Genus: Amphiprion
- Scientific name: Amphiprion akallopisos Bleeker, 1853
Habitat
The species ranges across the Indo-West Pacific, including East Africa, Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, the Seychelles, the Andaman Sea, Sumatra and the Java Sea. It lives on shallow inshore reefs with moderate to strong current at depths of about 3 to 25 m. It associates with the anemones Heteractis magnifica and Stichodactyla mertensii. FishBase reports a preferred temperature range of roughly 25.6-29.3 °C.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 100 L
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Carbonate hardness (dKH): 8-12
- Specific gravity: 1.024-1.026
- Lifespan: 11-12 years
Diet
Amphiprion akallopisos is an omnivore. In the aquarium it accepts marine flake and pellet foods together with frozen mysis and brine shrimp, fed about twice daily.
Compatibility
This species occupies the middle water column and lives in groups with a large dominant female, a functional male and several smaller juveniles. It uses sound, including pops and chirps, to defend its territory. It can be kept with tangs, royal gramma, wrasses and cleaner shrimp, while other clownfish species and aggressive predators such as triggerfish should be avoided.
Reef compatibility
Amphiprion akallopisos does not eat coral and is reef-safe. It is maintained at reef salinity of 1.024-1.026 specific gravity and carbonate hardness around 8-12 dKH. A host anemone is appreciated but not required in captivity.
Breeding
The species is a monogamous protandrous hermaphrodite: when the female is removed, the functional male changes sex to replace her. Captive breeding is feasible.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern (assessed 2010).
Skunk Clownfish Breeding Guide
Overview
Amphiprion akallopisos is a slender anemonefish reaching about 11 cm, distributed across the Indian Ocean from Java and Sumatra west to Madagascar, the Comoro Islands and the Seychelles. It hosts the magnificent sea anemone Heteractis magnifica and Mertens' carpet sea anemone Stichodactyla mertensii, and it can be kept in captivity by aquarists.
Sexing
The species is a protandrous hermaphrodite and maintains a hierarchy within the host anemone consisting of a mating pair, in which the female is the largest, plus non-mating males that get progressively smaller. Sex therefore follows social rank, and raising juveniles together so the dominant fish becomes the female is the standard route to a pair.
Conditioning
A bonded pair in a stable, warm reef and fed frequently on a varied diet comes into breeding condition. A host anemone such as Heteractis magnifica or Stichodactyla mertensii is readily accepted but is not strictly required for spawning in captivity.
Breeding Setup
Detailed species-level spawning data for this clownfish are limited, so breeding follows the well-documented anemonefish pattern. The breeding setup provides a flat, defensible spawning surface such as rock within the pair's territory near any host anemone present.
Spawning Behavior & Trigger
As an anemonefish it is a demersal substrate spawner: the pair deposits adhesive eggs on the prepared flat surface near its territory and fertilizes them externally. A settled pair held under stable reef parameters and fed frequently spawns in repeated cycles.
Egg & Fry Care
Following the anemonefish pattern, the male tends the nest, fanning and cleaning the eggs until they hatch. Larvae are pelagic and are reared in captivity on small live foods, starting with rotifers and moving to Artemia nauplii as the larvae grow.
Common Challenges
Because species-specific egg, incubation and larval figures are not documented, breeders rely on the general anemonefish behavior. As with all clownfish, the planktonic larval phase is the bottleneck, demanding a continuous supply of correctly sized live food and stable, high-quality water.