Moments ago, Bali Aquarich revealed yet another clownfish species with atypical markings. This time, it’s the Tomato Clownfish,Amphiprion frenatus. With so many unusual clownfish variants showing up in captive breedig populations, how is this fish any different? (more and a video after the break!)
令人惊讶的是,现在异常的条纹现在如此频繁,但是随着年份的流逝,我们在Evermore物种中看到了这些“毕加索”或“ Galaxy”类型标记。这种发生的频率可能暗示一个共同的主题。也许在小丑鱼条纹遗传学中有某种基本的遗传突变会定期发生 - 繁殖足够多的小丑鱼,迟早会出现突变。
Of course, we’re speculating pretty heavily here – we don’t even know if this is a genetically based trait in the first place, but we do know that these types of over-barring are genetic in at least Percula and Ocellaris Clownfish, and other species availability is suggestive of a genetic basis as well. All said, the list of fish known to have such curved, over-barred markings now includesPremnas biaculeatus,,,,两亲权,,,,A. ocellaris,,,,A. bicinctus,,,,A. clarki,,,,A. polymnus,,,,A. Sebae,,,,and nowA. Frenatus. We’re probably forgetting one or two more…
Now, there could be one small bit of heartbreak with this news. The question must be asked – will these aberrantly-marked Tomato Clownfish retain their markings? In the normal course of development, species of the “tomato complex” are known to develop middle stripes early after settlement, but as the fish grow up they quickly lose these markings. The unusual patterning on these babies does appear to be limited to the middle stripe, which ordinarily is destined to vanish as the fish mature. Will the mutation of the striping override the predisposition for this stripe to go away, or will these new clownfish be a heartbreaking case of “enjoy it while you can”, looking like any other regular Tomato Clownfish upon maturity?
Su Wen-Ping承认,即使他还不知道答案 - “所有这些条纹都会消失吗?我们还不知道]。因为它们比平常的[条纹]更多,我们认为这是一个有趣的经历。”
小丑鱼爱好者将焦急地等待判决,尽管可能需要几个月或更长时间才能找出这些标记是否存在或消失。
Check out this fantastic video showing these tiny clownfish in great detail.