peculiar clown behavior

[kinetic180]

I have had an o. percula for approximately seven months(his name is Krusty) and two months after I had Krusty I got another o. percula and they got along great. I introduced the new one in the evening and just left the lights out until the next day. Well, the new clown died several months later because it was being harassed by one of the dAmsels that I had left from cycling my tank.
Anyway, I got a new clown today and he/she is much bigger than Krusty. Krusty continually tried to attack the new clown. So, I rearranged the live rock and kept the lights out for six hours. Now, Krusty isn't attacking the new clown, but is displaying some rather odd behavior. Krusty will approach the new clown and begin shaking violently, like a seizure. Several times the new clown will then mimic the behavior. What does this mean? Is it an invitation to mate or an act of aggression or domanince of some sort?

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

It's a hierarchy thing - you have two Percs of the same --- and your fish are mad. Try this - buy two more and see how the fights go and you'll get yourself two mated pairs.
Of course you will have to remove the two lesser percs to another tank, or you could tak them back to the LPS for credit.

 

[bentrue]

clowns will shake like this to show the other one that he is submissive. if you have clowns of the same ---, they wont be for long. clowns will change --- to adapt with the dominant and larger clown being the female.

 

[fshhub]

it sounds, as if the new one is larger, than krusty, krusty, if he/she wereethe larger of the 2, was probably the female and the more dominant, and if this one is larger, it may also be a female, the larger more dominant clown will become th3e female, and if this is the case, you may have 2 females, and that IMO, may be a problem,( a turf war going on)
i am not sure, but bentrue, what would happen in this case, can they change back to male in a case like this??, i was always unclear on that fact, but i wasn't sure, could this be a big problem, or is (even if this is not the case adn krusty was the samller) it possible for them to change to male, i was always curious to this fact, whether this is the case or not, i would like to know so if anyone can answer, please

 

[kinetic180]

Thanks for the reply. I think I'm going to monitor the two for the next few days to make sure that they do not fight too much and hope that I can keep them both. How long would it take for one of them to change their --- and how would I know that has happened, providing it does?
Thanks again,
Jen

 

[stupid_naso]

fshhub, I'm as confused as you are. I'm not sure about the female changing its --- to male. I've always known that the biggest one in the group will become female, and the smaller one will become male. And the female will remain female until it dies and another male will take its spot.
I got this insert from Ross Thomas Mangin's Homepage (putting the name because of official reason)...
--- reversal plays a key role in the clownfish's hierarchy. The dominant female in every anemone possesses the functioning ovaries. The dominant male, possesses both functioning testes and nonfunctioning ovarian cells. If the dominant female should die, the dominant male's testes cease to to function, and the egg cells become productive. The largest non-breeding individual within the hierarchy. then becomes the dominant male. In this way, the hierarchy. within a anemone is constantly rotating and no time is lost in waiting for an appropriate individual to replace the dominant female or male.
So if you think about it, the testes already ceased to function, and the egg cells become productive. IMO I don't think you can reverse that process. Though one thing, many articles that says things about --- is always involving anemones in them. Does the anemone have anything to do with the --- change?
Now the question is, has Krusty testes ceased to function or not? If you're a hundred percent sure that it has, IMO it will be better if you remove the bigger one (not Krusty) and get a smaller one, instead of waiting for one to kill the other. I hope that helps a little...
stupid_naso

 

[fshhub]

that is what my thinking was, but alot more simple, i am not claiming to know about the biological technicalities, jsut the --- chnage i mean, thanks naso

 

[kinetic180]

It does seem confusing about the --- change, but at the University where I am studying I've heard of a research group that conducts research with clownfish and their mating rituals/reproduction. It will probably take me a few days or a week, but I'm going to try to figure out who they are and ask them about this --- change thing. Hopefully, they can give me definite answers about the subject. If you are intersted just look for my posting. Also, today it seems as if Krusty and the new clown(yes he/she is much larger than Krusty)are adapting quite well. Although, I have noticed that the larger clown seems to herd or boss Krusty around, but neither one is nipping or chasing the other one.
Again, thanks for all of the great info
Jen