Do clownfish intentionally affect anemone behavior?

Jonify · Jan 17, 2021

don_chuwish said:
I did a bit of Googling and didn't come up with anything. But my own observations have made me wonder about this.
My frequently spawning pair will often nudge or poke at the column - especially if it is getting in the way of the eggs.
They just spawned yesterday and the anemone (RBTA) has been in this huge tall umbrella shape ever since - perfectly shading the area where they spawned.
Also, several nights in a row a couple of weeks ago the anemone was shrunk down into a tight puffy pillow shape and both clownfish were perfectly snuggled inside it.

Just makes me go "hmmnn... maybe they can influence it's shape?"

Absolutely. It's a symbiotic relationship. While I'm not so sure an anemone would shade eggs, they absolutely will wrap around clowns at night.

Sailfin11 · Jan 17, 2021

I've seen the same thing with my clowns in RBTAS. They will actually push the anemones to the other side of the rock when they spawn. Interestingly, all the BTAs the clowns host have no bubbles while the other BTAs in the tank all bubble up...... I've wondered what would happen if I moved the clowns out but I don't want to interrupt their steady spawning.