These clown anemonefish are bright orange with three white strips and a thin black strip surrounding them. They live on coral reefs, in association with anemones. The clown anemonefish is a gregarious animal, living, like all clowns, in symbiosis with the anemones. The fish protect themselves among the poisonous tentacles of the anemones while the anemones take advantage of the pieces of food their guests drop while feeding. Other benefits of the clown anemonefish for the anemones are that they eat their parasites and air them to create increased water circulation around them, oxygenating them.
They are omnivores that feed on zooplankton and filamentous seaweed.

Its reproduction is oviparous. The bond generally formed between a couple of clown anemonefish is usually very strong and related to the size of their small territory centred on the anemone.

Did you know that the name clown comes from the way they swim and their colouring with white strips, which reminds us of the paint on a clown’s face?

Conservation status