Saturday, July 12, 2008

Spine-cheek Anemonefish

Premnas biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)

Spine-cheek Anemonefish
Above and below:A Spine-cheek Anemonefish at a depth of 15 m, Steve's Bommie, Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, February 2005. Photo © A. Lumnitzer. View larger image.
Spine-cheek Anemonefish
Photo © A. Lumnitzer. View larger image.

The Spine-cheek Anemonefish can be recognised by its brown to red body, two or three pale (usually white) bands, and a long spine below both eyes.

This species lives among the tentacles of the sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor. It feeds on zooplankton and algae.

Spine-cheek Anemonefish occurs on coral reefs in marine waters of the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans.

In Australia it is known from the offshore islands of north-western Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

This species has also been called the Tomato Clownfish.

source : www.austmus.gov.au

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