In a similar vein to the “hockeystick” specimen collected back in 2019, Philippine-based collector RVS Fishworld have just shared images of this interesting aberrant Amphiprion frenatus via their social media channels. Shown with a smaller, presumably male specimen in the image above, the larger individual shows an interesting supplementary branch to its white head band. This band appears forked on one side, and extended to behind the pectoral fin on the other. While we don’t know too many specific details, A. frenatus occurs in the Philippines, north to the Ryukyu Arc, and west to South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand and perhaps the Java Sea. Specialist website Amphiprionology states, “This is an abundant fish in the Philippines and north to Okinawa, but it becomes less-frequently documented to the west, where it likely hybridizes with A. melanopus in the Java Sea. It has also been noted to hybridize in the wild with A. clarkii and in captivity with A. ocellaris. Melanistic specimens have been reported on rare occasion and can strongly resemble A. mccullochi.”
We’ll be interested to see where this fish finds a new home and we hope that whoever obtains it can perhaps produce any offspring that bear similar interesting patterning.
