📸 PhotoPhoto: Neville Wootton · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Yellowtail clownfish
Amphiprion clarkii (Yellowtail clownfish · クマノミ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A maximum length of 15 cm is slightly shorter than a new pencil (about 17.5 cm) (comparison).
- 💡 It is popular in the aquarium trade and easy to breed, so it is also used for research (Animal Diversity Web).
- 💡 In Korea, it can be seen in coastal waters off Jeju Island (Korea's National Species List).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The yellowtail clownfish (Clark's anemonefish) is a small fish living among the tentacles of sea anemones on coral reefs. In Korea, it can be seen around Jeju Island.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The body is an elongated oval, laterally compressed, with the lower jaw protruding beyond the upper jaw. Body color varies widely among black, orange, and yellowish-brown, with white bars behind the eye and across the middle of the body.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It lives among the stinging tentacles of sea anemones, where the anemone protects the fish and the fish appears to keep the anemone healthier by eating its parasites. All young hatch as males, and if the female dies, the largest male changes sex into a female.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
According to Korea's National Species List, it has been recorded from Jeju Island.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2022) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/188338/1860189
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — D559
- • iucnredlist.org — 1860189
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000058739 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000058739
- • wikidata.org — Q275239
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Amphiprion clarkii, Heteractis aurora.jpg
- • fishbase.se — Amphiprion-clarkii.html
- • species.nibr.go.kr — mainHome.do
- • animaldiversity.org — Amphiprion clarkii
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Lily Hughes · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Amphiprion)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.