mccullochi clownfish, who has them?

[Largeangels]

So anyone else have Mccullochi clownfish?

Not the most popular or colorful clownfish but figured some might have them. I've got some of them. Partly because they are different and also because I followed along with Mr. Blue's collection effort on MOFIB years back.

They can be aggressive. I had 3 small together in a tank that already had a multibar angelfish in it. Two started to pair up so removed the 3rd and they started to grow quite fast loosing middle bar turning more black with pure white tail. Then one day out of the blue the large beat the crap out of the other, which was close in size. Been going back and forth with acrylic divider and aclimation box trying to repair up. Big one still too agressive for the other until last time the tables turned. Either incompatible or both turning female. Not sure but seems this may be lost. Never aggressive toward multibar angelfish. Second pair the larger grew much faster and they have a bigger size difference. This one I have some hope that they may stay a pair.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

@OrionN might be able to help you!

Do you have pictures of them?

 

[OrionN]

No experience here.

 

[OrionN]

@KrisReef should be able to help. He keep these fish many years ago.

 

[Wen]

I have a pair, bought back in the day from Divers Den - Live Aquaria in 2019.

Very cute funny faces as juveniles. I feared what their personalities would be as adults not only because they are clowns but because you can easily see their teeth. However, they are perfect angels to the hands that feed them, unlike other clowns these don't bite.

They are much bigger than I imagined, female maxing out around 5+" and the male at 3". They lay eggs regularly and live in a mass of 6 RBTAs. Tank mates are an emperor angel, wrasses, blue tang and a royal gramma. The emperor and the female Mccullochi are the alpha fish of the tank but coexist nicely. She gets to food before the emp and the emp grunts in displeasure.

While not the prettiest fish, they sure have unique faces. When this pair ages out, I will get another pair. Great fish, but not for a small tank.

 

[OrionN]

You can ransom a king with a pair of these clowns back in the days. Now with CB, their cost came down a lot, but with CB of these larger, more aggressive clowns come the deformities. They are not anywhere as near as nice a wild caught pair.

 

[Largeangels]

Great! You should try and raise some or find someone to raise a clutch or two.

Like stated above they do have deformities. Some worse than others, but wild caught are out of the question so that or nothing.

As much as the bigger pair hate each other I might have to find a couple of small ones to pair them up. I personally always try to keep clowns as pairs.

 

[Wen]

You can ransom a king with a pair of these clowns back in the days. Now with CB, their cost came down a lot, but with CB of these larger, more aggressive clowns come the deformities. They are not anywhere as near as nice a wild caught pair.

What does CB stand for?

I need to reread the article on these fish. Was it 3 pairs that were allowed to be taken for breeding?

So anyone else have Mccullochi clownfish?

Not the most popular or colorful clownfish but figured some might have them. I've got some of them. Partly because they are different and also because I followed along with Mr. Blue's collection effort on MOFIB years back.

They can be aggressive. I had 3 small together in a tank that already had a multibar angelfish in it. Two started to pair up so removed the 3rd and they started to grow quite fast loosing middle bar turning more black with pure white tail. Then one day out of the blue the large beat the crap out of the other, which was close in size. Been going back and forth with acrylic divider and aclimation box trying to repair up. Big one still too agressive for the other until last time the tables turned. Either incompatible or both turning female. Not sure but seems this may be lost. Never aggressive toward multibar angelfish. Second pair the larger grew much faster and they have a bigger size difference. This one I have some hope that they may stay a pair.

Where did you purchase them and what years?

Wondering what generation mine are from 2019?

 

[criccio]

I’ve had a few over the years. I’ve always had a fascination with AU clowns. My first pair came from Ryan (mrblue). Had them about six months and lost them to a heater explosion. That loss (with a few other events) spelled the end of the hobby for me 20 years ago.

Never lost my interest in clown fish though, and have always been lurking. Got back in the hobby about about 5 years ago. My second go around with them have all been ORA stock (since that’s all that’s available) and unsuccessful pairings. I don’t have any now, but would love to get my hands on a pair.

Would love to see more pics Wen. The one pic you posted looks really good, and that is not common with what’s being produced nowadays.

 

[JayM]

What does CB stand for?

I need to reread the article on these fish. Was it 3 pairs that were allowed to be taken for breeding?

Where did you purchase them and what years?

Wondering what generation mine are from 2019?

“CB” is “captive bred”.

 

[Largeangels]

I believe he brought back 4 pairs and I think maybe one pair died?

I had a pair I got in 2019 from Live Aquaria that grew slow and had some deformities I didn't like so I sold them.

Then got the latest from Oceans Garden. One pair late 2022 or early 2023. Then another pair last July. Of course all came from ORA.

 

[Wen]

This is the male.

 

[Wen]

I believe he brought back 4 pairs and I think maybe one pair died?

I had a pair I got in 2019 from Live Aquaria that grew slow and had some deformities I didn't like so I sold them.

Then got the latest from Oceans Garden. One pair late 2022 or early 2023. Then another pair last July. Of course all came from ORA.

Love to see photos of yours.
What sort of deformity did you see with the 2019 pairs?

 

[Ron Popeil]

there were a lot of bulldog looking faces on most of those early offspring. almost all of the fish i see circulating now do not have those issues.

 

[Largeangels]

 

[Largeangels]

 

[Largeangels]

Most of the ones I see have some issues with the head/jaw areas. Same as seen in other CB clownfish.

 

[Wen]

there were a lot of bulldog looking faces on most of those early offspring. almost all of the fish i see circulating now do not have those issues.

Oh dear! I thought they all had faces like this.

 

[Wen]

Bump

 

[Largeangels]

Most of the ones I’ve seen there is some type of head deformity. Either the jaw is not correct, or there is that dent on top of the head behind the eyes or the head/jaw area doesn’t blend in with the rest of the body so it looks like the face is thinner.