Wide-band Anemonefish Breeding Guide

Breeding Amphiprion latezonatus: subtropical conditioning near 24 to 25 C, demersal spawning of about 500 eggs, hatching around day 11, and rearing larvae on rotifers, copepods and Artemia.

Overview

Amphiprion latezonatus is a subtropical anemonefish endemic to the east coast of Australia, from southern Queensland to northern New South Wales, plus Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island, reaching about 14 cm. It is highly host-specialised, associating primarily with the sebae anemone Heteractis crispa, with records from two further anemone species. It has been bred in captivity, though many early captive-bred specimens were misbarred or deformed.

Sexing

It is a sequential hermaphrodite with a strict size-based dominance hierarchy and exhibits protandry: the breeding male changes to female if the sole breeding female dies. Sex follows social rank, so raising juveniles together and allowing the largest to mature into the female is the standard route to a pair; broodstock has also been formed from wild-caught pairs.

Conditioning

As a subtropical species it is conditioned at cooler temperatures than tropical clownfish. In a documented captive program the temperature was slowly raised to 24 degrees Celsius to simulate spring, the pair was held under a 14-hour light and 10-hour dark photoperiod, and it was fed fresh foods at high frequency, sometimes up to ten times a day.

Breeding Setup

The breeding setup provides a flat, defensible spawning surface near the pair's territory and host anemone, held at cool subtropical temperatures. In the documented program a wild-caught pair was conditioned in a dedicated nursery system before spawning.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

As an anemonefish it is a demersal substrate spawner. In the documented program the pair produced a clutch of roughly 500 eggs across a band almost 15 cm long; the bright yellow eggs turned silver with visible embryonic eyes by about day 7 and hatched on day 11.

Egg & Fry Care

The male tends the nest until hatching. In the documented program larvae were collected at hatching on day 11 and reared at a cool temperature near 25 degrees Celsius; they were fed rotifers and copepods, with enriched Artemia nauplii introduced after about a week and dry feeds added from day four, and metamorphosis with head stripes began around day 14, yielding roughly 100 juveniles.

Common Challenges

Misbarring and lower-jaw deformities have been common in captive-bred wide-band anemonefish, so careful larval husbandry is needed. The subtropical origin means cooler, stable conditions are important, and as with all clownfish the larval phase demands a continuous supply of correctly sized live food and excellent water quality.