Clownfish Mating Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Clownfish Mating - Essay Example In this struggle, the male clownfish is quite belligerent towards the female and shows his desire by biting, chasing and extending his fins. The female clownfish mates with the male one after some struggle. After it, she lays eggs on a flat surface cleared by the male clownfish and built into a nest. The eggs that are laid by the female clownfish are fertilized and guarded by the male clownfish. He is the one who takes care of the eggs. He becomes free when the eggs get hatched and larvae come out of the hatched eggs. Clownfish is a beautiful fish that is liked all over the world because of its elegant style and appearance. People like to keep clownfish in their aquariums in order to increase the beauty of an aquarium. Clownfish, which is also called anemone fish, belongs to the order Perciformes, its family is Pomacentridae, its genus is Amphiprion and its species is ocellaris (Boyer 2009). Its scientific name is Amphiprion ocellaris (Fishlore.com 2007a). Clownfish is called anemone fish because of its symbiotic relationship with sea anemones (Hoff 1996). Symbiosis can be defined as a process in which, both the organisms are benefited because of the relationship that is formed between them. Clownfish and sea anemone forms a symbiotic association with the anemone due to which, clownfish as well as the sea anemone, both are mutually in advantage (Fishlore.com 2007b). As far as its habitat is concerned, the clownfish is found in warm waters, which are oceanic and sultry (Boyer 2009). The clownfish is usually at most 5 inches long and at least 2 inches small. The male clownfish is smaller in size than female clownfish (Randall, et. al 1997). There is a very interesting fact about clownfish and its gender. When a clownfish gives birth, all the newly born are males (Fishlore.com 2007a). In fact, the clownfish is male at its birth and remains male until it becomes dominant than other male clownfish around it. When one clownfish grows in size and gets