Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 150, June 2017, pp. 1-29. | Page 7

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It does not generally harm live corals or small inverts, but large adults may
attack ornamental shrimps. They will also pick at the dead tentacles of their host
anemone (Animal World).

Social Behaviour
Due to their aggression towards other clownfish species, the Oman Anemonefish
shouldn't be housed with other types of clownfish in an Aquarium. While being
attacked or in attacking mode, clownfish produces from 2 to 17 clicks in a row.
They will at times produce "chirps" (aimed at larger fish) and "pops" (aimed at
smaller fish) that are audible to divers or even aquarists. They are actually silent
when mating. Pops are heard in sets of two or one, right before a chirp noise, so
they may be carrying on two different conversations! Saying, "Get out of here
Angelfish!" and "hey you subordinate, get in line!" (Animal World).
They use their teeth to produce the sound and the jaws are the built in amplifier,
so it stands to reason that the noises may vary from clownfish species to species,
sort of like a dialect or accent. There are a total of 29 clownfish that produce
audible sounds, with some louder than others. Within the loudest three are the
Clark's Clownfish, Tomato Clownfish, and Pink Skunk Clownfish (Animal
World).
The behaviour between the same species of clownfish is very interesting and
easy to identify. Constant dominating displays by a female prevent a male from
changing sex. An aggressive clownfish will displays "agonistic behavior" while
the subordinate clown will display “appeaser behavior.” The aggressive fish has
specific actions in which the subordinate clownfish reacts to:
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If the aggressive fish, typically the female, is chasing and chirping, the
subordinate clownfish, which can be a male or sub adult, will rapidly quiver
their body as they drift upward and they will produce clicking sounds.
Jaw popping by the aggressive clownfish results in the subordinate clownfish
shaking their body or head.
Ventral leaning by the aggressive clownfish results in the subordinate
clownfish quivering.
An aggressive clownfish displaying a dorsal leaning results in the subordinate
clownfish performing ventral leaning (Animal World).

The relationship a clown fish and a sea anemone have is known as symbiosis,
where they provide benefits to one another. Clownfish stay with certain
anemones in the wild, protecting them from anemone eating fish. In return the
anemone protects the clownfish from predators, keeping them away with their
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 150 – June 2017