by lunareef » Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:00 am
I have a motley crew of four ocellaris clownfish that display some very odd breeding behaviors. This group is comprised of two females and two males. The females each take turns laying their eggs each cycle, but they don't lay their eggs at the same time. One female will lay her eggs, and the other one will "help" ( rock-cleaning, etc.), but will not lay eggs. The batch of eggs will then be attended to by one of the males (the same one every time) and then the females take back over and guard the eggs until they fall off the rock and are lost to my 55 gallon reef tank. A couple of days after the eggs hatch, the other female will lay her batch, with the help of the other one, and the cycle starts over. I at first thought that one of the two larger clowns were male, but then i directly observed each one lay eggs (though never at the same time). This cycle always starts in the vacinity of a full or new moon, and has gone like clockwork for the past five months. I have always read that it is the male who take care of the babies in clownfish species, but this is not what goes on my tank. The one male always fertilizes, and then leaves (stays in the area, but performs no aeration or other "fatherly" duties), while the other male plays no role whatsoever, because he is not accepted at all by the other three. This little guy lives the life of a recluse in the back corner of the tank, and is harrassed by all, especially the other male. He has never been injured, and I make sure he eats. It is interesting to note that he and the other male used to be the same size, but now the "dominant" male ( I use the term loosely, because the females run this show), is starting to grow noticably larger. I have wondered if he is in the process of becoming a she. I guess I am wondering if anyone has noticed any of the described behaviors with their ocellaris, or are mine just a group of oddballs? I don't know if this has anything to do with maintaining a group (3 or more) versus a pair. T.y.
