Amphiprion tricinctus occupies the most different kinds of anemones in the Marshalls. We have seen them in Entacmaea quadricolor, Heteractis aurora, H. malu, Stichodactyla haddoni, S. mertensii, Macrodactyla doreensis and, rarely, Heteractis magnifica. It appears to be restricted to the Marshall Islands, possibly taking the place of Amphiprion clarkii, which does not occur in the Marshalls but is common in the eastern Caroline Islands and farther west. A. clarkii, like A. tricinctus, lives in a wide variety of different anemones. The fish lives on lagoon, pinnacle and seaward reefs, and even on some shipwrecks. It also seems to range to slightly deeper depths than the other anemonefish. Occasional solitary specimens of Entacmaea quadricolor hosting A. tricinctus can be found on the seaward reef slope in excess of 40m. The first photo below shows a fish in an unusually speckled E. quadricolor.
This appears to be a young individual in E. quadricolor. From the photos on Fishbase, the young of A. tricinctus and A. chrysopterus are sometimes difficult to tell apart.
When living in Stichodactyla mertensii, A. tricinctus often loses all its orange, becoming mostly black and white.
In Stichodactyla haddoni, large individuals of A. tricinctus sometimes turn black as well, although this anemone is mostly inhabited by juvenile clowns. We're not sure if the fish below is yawning or displaying.
Another yawner.
These appear to tbe the eggs of A. tricinctus on the rocks next to a Stichodactyla haddoni.
One of the pair below had aberrant coloration.
Created 1 September 2010
Updated 19 May 2012