Clownfish Colorations

[RaisingTinyHobbits]

What causes clownfish to change colors? I bought two chocolate clownfish and when they arrived about 10 weeks ago the bigger one was a slightly darker shade of orange and the smaller one just looked like a normal ocellaris. While in quarantine the bigger one lost almost all of the darker shade and they were both just normal orange. Now that theyve been in the Display Tank for a few weeks the bigger one has grown quite a bit and darkened up significantly, while the smaller one is still the same shade of orange. So, what influences the difference in color depth and will the smaller one eventually deepen to brown as well?

 

[bluemon]

Most fish change color based on "mood"

They can get super dark when scared or stressed, super pale when not doing well (almost dead), etc...

 

[Tahoe61]

Genetics.
It's not uncommon for individual clowns to become a darker coloration as they mature.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What causes clownfish to change colors? I bought two chocolate clownfish and when they arrived about 10 weeks ago the bigger one was a slightly darker shade of orange and the smaller one just looked like a normal ocellaris. While in quarantine the bigger one lost almost all of the darker shade and they were both just normal orange. Now that theyve been in the Display Tank for a few weeks the bigger one has grown quite a bit and darkened up significantly, while the smaller one is still the same shade of orange. So, what influences the difference in color depth and will the smaller one eventually deepen to brown as well?

Its not mood but genes and breeding mutations. Perculas will often be mocha or dark as they mature as with many when they reach maturity

 

[RaisingTinyHobbits]

So, there's a chance the smaller one will darken up too as it gets older?

 

[Crimsonphoenix]

So, there's a chance the smaller one will darken up too as it gets older?

Fyi: the more dominant one will turn female and be larger than the male.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So, there's a chance the smaller one will darken up too as it gets older?

There's a probability

 

[D-Nak]

I think what's most important is understanding what a "chocolate" clownfish really is. In my limited research it sounds like that's a term that Sustainable Aquatics uses for their brown ocellaris clowns. Assuming they're the same as mocha clowns, I expect them to darken with age (they're half Darwin aka black ocellaris and half regular ocellaris). How dark they eventually get will be determined by how much of the Darwin gene is expressed. Some chocolate/mocha clownfish remain brown, others turn almost black. Also, keep in mind that all ocellaris start as orange juveniles and develop their adult coloration over time (which could take a couple of years).

 

[litsoh]

It’ll probably happen as they get older

Here’s my pair of clowns when I first got them.

And here they are about a year later. Granted one of then was sold to me as a mocha but they both got darker as they grew. It’s all genetics I guess haha

 

[Crimsonphoenix]

So, there's a chance the smaller one will darken up too as it gets older?

Fyi: the more dominant one will turn female and be larger than the male.

I I got my clowns at about 1 3/4 inches each about 6 years ago. One was bright orange and the other an orange and black. They are now about 3 1/2 inches smaller bright orange male-same color started, and the female about 4 - 4 1/2 inches black and orange misbar- same color as started but larger and female.

 

[RaisingTinyHobbits]

They're gorgeous!

 

[RaisingTinyHobbits]

It’ll probably happen as they get older

Here’s my pair of clowns when I first got them.

And here they are about a year later. Granted one of then was sold to me as a mocha but they both got darker as they grew. It’s all genetics I guess haha

Wow! That's a big difference! They're beautiful both ways, though!

 

[p1u5h13r4m24]

I bought mocha storms before and within a year they became black storms :(

 

[litsoh]

It’ll probably happen as they get older

Here’s my pair of clowns when I first got them.

And here they are about a year later. Granted one of then was sold to me as a mocha but they both got darker as they grew. It’s all genetics I guess haha

Wow! That's a big difference! They're beautiful both ways, though!

Funny thing is it happened so gradually that I never noticed it. Then one day I walked past my tank and was like “They weren’t always this dark, were they?”