WC SI Perc ?

[FishnWishn]

I had these shipped from Quality Marine. They had them listed as WC Solomon Island Black Percula. The small (over 1") clown has eyes like a Percula but the large (over 1.5") has dark eyes like an A. Ocellaris. They both have dark bodies with red/orange fins, tail, belly, & face. All fins are lined with black edges except for the smaller clowns dorsal which are all red, the larger clowns dorsal is completly black. The smaller clown has teardrop second strips on both sides. They both have no 3rd strip.

Are these WC Juvi percs or WC Juvi black var O's? Are there even Black O's in the Solomon's, I was kinda hoping that's what I was getting in. My last question is will the 3rd strip still form?

Sorry for the bad pics but I have had these in QT for 3 weeks and they move so fast that all my pics are nothing but blurs. These were taken with a flash, while acclimating in a bucket.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/FishnWishn/Percula/2006_0318Percula0003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/FishnWishn/Percula/2006_0318Percula0004.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/FishnWishn/Percula/2006_0318Percula0005.jpg

[Evyllchyld]

Wow, out of all my clownfish research I've never seen clowns that were just missing the 3rd stripe.. Very interesting I'd like to see what comes of this thread.

[phender]

I don't think your going to get many definite answers with those pics. Black fades in times of stress and you can't see much from the top.
FWIW, it is more common for wild caught percs to be without tail bars than wild caught ocellaris. From their size, I would say they will be bar-less for life.

[FishnWishn]

Thanks phender,
I think you are right, I will have 2 stripe Percs. I only have pics from the side when I did a formalin dip in a 2.5 gal tank before they went into QT. still blurry(these suckers are quick) and washed out colors from the 400W MH comming from the tank next to it. Also have a cheap cr@ppy camera.

I think these are most likely Percs, but I had a Juv pair of black var. O's that started out this phase. When I talked to QM they said they were Juvi black percs and not black Polymnus. since I know there are no black percs (except Onyx) I thought they might be black O's and ordered them. They are Cool looking and am sure they will darken up some. I just don't know how much.

Here are some of the blurry washed out pics if it helps.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/FishnWishn/Percula/Percs004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/FishnWishn/Percula/Percs011.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v683/FishnWishn/Percula/Percs007.jpg

[stykthyn]

look like percs to me, gorgeous too.

[Nagel]

They look like Percs to me too..

And since my 6 week old baby Ocellaris already have three stripes, I would assume you have an unusual misbar there, missing the third stripe.. I know Percs take more time to develop then Ocellaris, but I have a small pair of SI Percs here (>1") and they have all three stripes, I must assume that the third stripe should be showing on yours already.

Nice looking pair!

[FishnWishn]

Thanks everyone. I am satisfied that they are Percs, but even If they get totally black I guess I cannot claim they are Onyx since the black does not connect the 2nd & 3rd stripe. :D

[Jovreefer]

I'm gonna be the odd ball here and say they look like juvi's to me.

True percs can take up to a year and a half to get all their white from what I'm told. and the smaller one that does not have a full second bar definatly looks like its filling in. I guess only time will really tell. But they are definatly nice no matter what.

[FishnWishn]

I think they are not far off from being Juvi's. They are both almost as big as one of my breeding pairs by about 1/2". The smaller one does his submission waggle but even Juvi's do that. As far as his second bar I kinda hope it stays that way. I was going to name him "porkchop" or "T-bone" cause that's what the bar looks like upside-down. But like you said ....time will tell.

[EMBRYOGUY]

nagel

as with the stripes on any baby clowns, time frame depends on parents as well as that particular variety. just bec your baby clowns have stripes at a particular stage in development, it doenst mean other baby percs at the same time frame will or will not have stripes.

each clown, within each group of babies, among diff parents, and with diff. species, there are variations in pattern/color. dev.

[Nagel]

embryoguy,

While its true that different clowns have different time frames for development, the sizes of his (1" and 1.5") would say that they should be almost a year old, if not very close.. Perculas take a year typically to reach 3/4" in captivity, in nature they could do it slower considering we provide every little morsel of food to the point of saturation in captivity, and in the wild its not always like that (feast or famine).. By that time, they have developed their stripes. Most clowns have different patterns as juveniles (interestingly most "one stripe" clowns have three at post metamorphasis, and most "three stripe" clowns start with one and develop all three). a 1" clown, while still young, is no longer a juvenile, and should have completed stripe development by that point in time.

Also go back and read my post, I said baby ocellaris, not percs. Percs take considerably longer to grow to a 1" size. Ocellaris typically hit 3/4" in about 3-5 months, and perculas take 9-12 months to reach the same size. This is not a "individual parent" thing, its unique to the species, ask any breeder.

By 6-9 months of age, most clowns have their full stripes, be it percula, ocellaris or any other species..