Blackfoots

A little something for the connoisseurs amongst you. Many of you will have seen the more commonly photographed species of clownfish or anemonefish (genera Amphiprion and Premnas) - I'm talking about (for example) "nemo" and his ilk either in photos, on tv, or at public aquaria (or indeed private aquaria - many of the 29 odd species are now bred in captivity by pros, enterprising local communities and skilled amateurs and are available cheaply and sustainably for the home fishkeeper[incidentally all those links are awesome but the  purposely produced designer ORA clowns are not to my taste]). This however is a little rarer - this is the Maldivian endemic blackfoot anemonefish (Amphiprion nigripes).

You can just about make out the black belly that gives these guys their common name in these photos. These  have a very, very crisp white and I have to say I find them rather vibrant and beautifully coloured. If I were setting up another reef tank this is probably the species I'd go for. Ecologically they are essentially similar to all clownfish; these are hanging out in what I think is a bubbletip anemone as a pair - they are closer in size than many male female clown pairs; the female being slightly larger.



I had actually thought I'd featured a load of anemone fish on this blog but it turns out I haven't (or the search function is flawed again). Below is what has featured previously (with more to come as a result of the discovery of these gaps):
Tomato clown Amphiprion frenatus
Clark's anemonefish Amphiprion clarkii
Orange Skunk clown Amphiprion sandaracinos