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FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE,MOA,TAIWAN

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Journal of Taiwan Fisheries Research

Breeding Behavior of the Saddleback Anemonefish (Amphiprion polymnus) and Its Larval Rearing Study

  • Date:2003-12-31
  • Volume:11
  • No:1&2
  • Page:29-38
  • Auther:Che-Ming Chen, Yuan-Shing Ho and Wen-Yie Chen
The saddleback anemonefish (Amphiprion polymnus) belongs to the subfamily Amphiprioninae of the family Pomacentridae. During the 239 days of recording dating from September 23, 2002 to May 19, 2003, the saddleback anemonefish ovulated 19 times, and each time produced about 1400~2000 eggs. These adhesive demersal eggs were orange and ellipsoidal and were about 1.85~2.25 mm long and 0.75~0.85 mm in diameter. The yolks were about1.50~1.75 mm long and contained several oil droplets with diameters ranging from 0.03 to 0.20 mm. The fertilized eggs hatched when the accumulated temperature reached 212~245.7 day°C; furthermore, the eggs should not see light on the night of hatching. The newly hatched larvae at about 3.50~4.48 mm in total length were phototactic, and the phototaxis lessened as they grew. The larvae were reared in water temperatures of 24.8~29.0 °C and fed rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) from days 1 to 8. On day 9, copepods were added to the feed, and the amount was gradually increased until it totally replaced rotifers on the 12th day. The 28-day-old fry were about 16.05~20.13 mm in total length and could be fed with 7-day-old Artemia spp., fish, shrimp, pellet feed, etc. On the 13th to 17th days, the fry already showed dark brown stripes similar to those of the adult fish and began benthic life by congregating at the bottom of the breeding barrel. Also the 15-day-old fry could be observed showing fighting and territorial behaviors.