clownfish gender question

[Tentacles]

i have mixed answers on this so if someone can post an article on this to back it up as well as their reply that would be great

all clowns are born male, now do they tend to stay male if kept by themself in a tank, or do they turn female, some have said they stay male and others have said if they are kept alone they just turn female, im trying to find out so i can put my maroon in the right sized tank (hes by himslef) since a male maroon is around 4 inches full grown and the female is 6 inches full grown so whats up? thanks much

[Devilishturtles]

All clowns are born neutral/unsexed/male depending on your definition. They will only become female when paired up, else they will stay unsexed/neutral/male.

If there is no other clown around, the maroon will stay "male".

Sorry, don't have an article to back it up, but if I remember correctly, I think wikipedia has a good clownfish article I've seen posted here a few times.

HTH

[Tentacles]

yea thats what i thought, but this guy told me: ''All singly kept clowns turn female, I prefer to think that people sometimes draw conclusions based on limited information yet pass it as fact, rather than conscious lying.

With clowns, it's just a matter of dominance... the most dominant becomes the female, if there's no competition the single becomes the female. This is a shining example of why you should buy a pair of clown from the same tank if at all possible (with exceptions, of course); there's little chance of two females since they both occupy the same space and fight for the same social rank.''

to which i responded: they form their hierarchy in the wild with one female, and pairs in tanks form one female, but they do not change sex if they are alone, there is no reason to become dominant, they just claim terrotory which is very different than being dominant, in very strange cases if they are housed with another different fish they will become female because they feel violatd, but otherwise, alone in a tank with themself some snails hermits and corals, there is no reason to become dominant over ''nothing'' and simply establish territory and stay neutral/male.

[Devilishturtles]

I don't see how that is possible since they are all born gender neutral. Once a small heirarchy is established amongst the fish, only then does it change gender.

there's little chance of two females since they both occupy the same space and fight for the same social rank.''

I would think very little to no chance of two females, unless they have been in the tank for a long time. I don't see how it's possible ot form a "pair" in a store tank, but that's just me.

I lost a clownfish (carpet surfing) and my male ( I say male, because the other was much much larger than he) was in the tank for a long time alone. I added another, larger fish in hopes that it would become the female, and it did. I don't know how long this person thinks that it takes, but it didn't happen with me, in a couple of months.

HTH.

Oh, btw...the wikipedia article on clowfish sucks. Don't waste your time. Dunno what page I looked at before.

[Tentacles]

if you by chance find it let me know, m newest response from the guy was ''you were told wrong'' when i said the latest to him, but he wont back it up with anything

[Devilishturtles]

It's quite possible I am wrong, perhaps everything I've always read and listened to myself was wrong. I just don't think I am. I will search for the page this afternoon when I get more time.

[roka64]

I agree with DT. Clowns are born gender neutral. There will be 1 female, 1 dominant male, and other non dominant males, in the wild. If the dominant female dies, the dominant male will change sexes. The next in line will become the dominant male. If the dominant male dies, the next in line becomes the dominant male.
Read this:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-clown-fish.htm
or this:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/universal-id39.html

[Tentacles]

completely agree roka, but this clown is kept by himself instead of in a pair or a wild heirarchy so the circumstances are a bit different, what will happen if its alone for a long time

[roka64]

Not sure what gender it would be, but if a smaller was introduced, I would imagine the larger would become female.

[choupic]

What would happen if you put 3 clowns in one tank (55 gal) two Percula Clown - and one Maroon Clown ?