FISHERIES RESEARCH INSTITUTE,MOA,TAIWAN

Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) belongs to the subfamily Amphiprioninae of the family Pomacentridae. Between January 2 and December 28,2006, one pair of clownfish ovulated 28 times. Oviposition occurred after the breeders cleaned the spawning substrate together. The spawning intervals were 10 - 19 days. The timing of spawning started from 09:00 to 15:00 with a peak from 11:00 to 14:30, and the spawning behavior lasted for an hour. About 300 - 1000 eggs were released in each spawning. These adhesive demersal eggs were reddish orange and oval with size about 2.32 ± 0.10 × 0.95 ± 0.07 mm (Mean ± SD). The yolks were about 1.44 ± 0.12 mm in diameter and the newly hatched larvae were about 4.35 ± 0.14 mm in length. Parental care behaviors for the ovum occurred after spawning. The behavior occurred 7 ± 5.7 times / 30 minutes and 40 ± 6.6 times / 30 minutes for females and males, respectively. This indicated that parental care behavior mainly carried out by males. The time interval for the embryo to hatch was an inverse ratio to water temperature. The hatching period was 6 and 8 days under 29℃ and 23℃ water temperature, respectively. At day 11th after hatching, the body color of larvae turned to reddish orange and symbiosis with sea anemones. The feedings for the initial larvae stage were rotifer. The density of rotifer would not be lower than 5000 rotifer / liter. In addition, microalgae was added to stabilize water quality and to nourish rotifers. The supply of feedings should be applied at the same time. At the 35th day after hatching, pellet diet could be applied to the fries. When the average body length of juvenile was 38.25 ± 2.95 mm at the 160th day, the pattern of band and color of juvenile were the same with adult.