My new Amphiprion epigrammata

[ThRoewer]

Pulled the trigger on a pair of Amphiprion epigrammata from Sumatra.
AC had the female for quite a while. The male just came with the last shipment of new fish.
I put them straight together and they got along perfectly right away.

In the bath:



In the QT with my new gang of Starcki damsels:



These guys seem to be pretty mellow.

Genetic analysis suggests consistently that Premnas is monophyletic with Amphiprion and closely related to Amphiprion ocellaris, Amphiprion percula, and Amphiprion latezonatus. Premnas should therefore be seen as a synonym of Amphiprion.
Genetic analysis as well as a clear difference in coloration and personality also strongly suggests that A. epigrammata is a valid species and not a synonym of P. biaculeatus.

[hottuna]

nice. just add BTA ...and ur good to go...

[WatDatThing]

Beautiful. Where did you get them?

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[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by WatDatThing

Beautiful. Where did you get them?

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Aquatic Collection in Hayward.

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[ocellaris123]

nice pair; my favorite species of clownfish along with tomatoes. Do you plan on providing them with an anemone? All the pairs of gsm I have owned were destructive on their host bubble tip rose anemones. They would rip off and eat tentacles to the point were the anemones would just be a disk with stubs.

[Planetmacro]

That’s a nice pair. I like that you use the correct species name.

[Planetmacro]

Originally Posted by ocellaris123

nice pair; my favorite species of clownfish along with tomatoes. Do you plan on providing them with an anemone? All the pairs of gsm I have owned were destructive on their host bubble tip rose anemones. They would rip off and eat tentacles to the point were the anemones would just be a disk with stubs.

Both my pairs are small with really tiny males. I keep them without anemones because when I introduced a BTA to the pair with the smallest male, the female nearly killed him!

[ocellaris123]

Any update? How are the pair doing?

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by ocellaris123

Any update? How are the pair doing?

Sitting in the 10 gallon QT and fighting the flow of a 1200 Marineland powerhead... These are among the worst swimmers among the Anemonefish and nothing like the bicinctus who are excellent swimmers and seem to love high flow.

Otherwise they get along fine, no fighting.

[ThRoewer]

Here the latest video. The two get along well. The female is pretty mellow and pretty much ignores the Starcki. The little male, on the other hand, goes after the damsels if they get in his way.

[ocellaris123]

Good looking pair, are you planning anemones for them when they finish qt?

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by ocellaris123

Good looking pair, are you planning anemones for them when they finish qt?

I will try, but not necessarily BTAs.
I've seen a study that indicates that they also accept H. magnifica as a host.

[ocellaris123]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

I will try, but not necessarily BTAs.
I've seen a study that indicates that they also accept H. magnifica as a host.

I could have sworn I have seen a picture pair of wild white stripe maroons hosting in a ritteri.

[ThRoewer]

Broodstock development, breeding, embryonic development and larviculture of spine-cheek anemonefish, Premnas biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)

[garygb]

Those are beautiful fish. Also, I didn't realize maroons are now (at least tentatively) in the Amphiprion genus. Thank you for the info.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by garygb

Those are beautiful fish. Also, I didn't realize maroons are now (at least tentatively) in the Amphiprion genus. Thank you for the info.

Every genetic study strongly points to them being in the Amphiprion clade and closely related to ocellaris and percula (which is pretty obvious just by looks).
But it will probably be a good while until the taxonomic classification is changed back, especially since there likely will have to be a recognition that there are actually up to four distinct species of maroons.
And there is also a serious rearranging needed within Amphiprion and many so far unrecognized species or subspecies added.

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[OrionN]

I sometime seen wild caught yellow strip Maroon, and wanted to buy a pair but so far have resisted the temptation. I will have to keep them in my QT system and will nto be able to keep my new fish in this system.

[ocellaris123]

Originally Posted by OrionN

I sometime seen wild caught yellow strip Maroon, and wanted to buy a pair but so far have resisted the temptation. I will have to keep them in my QT system and will nto be able to keep my new fish in this system.

A gold stripe pair would look awesome in one of your gig's if they take to them. I just picked up another pair of gold stripes and luckily they seem to be more gentler on the anemones than the pairs I have had in the past.

[OrionN]

I think now that I finished acquiring fish for my tanks I will look for a GBM in the near future. I really like them in a species tank with their anemone. 40 gal breeder should be big enough for them.
I will look for a wild caught pair. Tank raised are too deformed for me.

[ocellaris123]

40 gallon would be great for a pair, I have always had zero issues pairing GSM's despite their reputation for being difficult to pair.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by ocellaris123

40 gallon would be great for a pair, I have always had zero issues pairing GSM's despite their reputation for being difficult to pair.

I found that pairing them is easy because male and female can be distinguished by their coloration.
Keeping them alive, on the other hand, seems to be more difficult. My female died. She got stringy poo, stopped eating, and was dead 2 days later. She didn't show any other sign of illness and none of the other fish in the QT have any issues - aside from the Starki chasing each other until they are exhausted.

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[Planetmacro]

Too bad about your female. You are correct about dimorphism in the Premnas complex. Males are lighter in color regardless of size.

[ocellaris123]

I have seen older males get as dark as females. Sorry about the loss, must have been the females time to go. I have found GSM's to be pretty hardy, but newly caught individuals are prone to brook.

Are you planning on repairing the male?

[ThRoewer]

Yes, I try to get another female.
Going by her receding head bar this female wasn't the youngest anymore.

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[Overboard]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

I found that pairing them is easy because male and female can be distinguished by their coloration.
Keeping them alive, on the other hand, seems to be more difficult. My female died. She got stringy poo, stopped eating, and was dead 2 days later. She didn't show any other sign of illness and none of the other fish in the QT have any issues - aside from the Starki chasing each other until they are exhausted.

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So sorry to hear that! Beautiful fish. The male sounds healthy so maybe another female will come available. Good luck!