AMPHIPRION MELANOPUS BLEEKER, 1852
Red and Black Anemonefish
Original description: As Amphiprion melanopus, from specimens collected at Ambon (Molucca Islands, Indonesia)
Colour features and size: Adults usually black on sides with reddish snout, belly, dorsal fin, and tail (sometimes pale yellow); pelvic and anal fins usually black; a single relatively broad white bar on head. Some individuals from the Coral Sea lack head bar; fish from the Fiji Islands and southeastern Polynesia entirely red except for white head bar; those from the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia have reduced black patch on the side. Maximum length about 120 mm.
Similar species: In the normal adult colouration, the black pelvic and anal fins easily distinguish A. melanopus from the other single-barred, red-finned species, A. frenatus (South China Sea to Japan) and A. rubrocinctus (northwestern Australia). However, Fijian and southeastern Polynesian specimens are readily confused with the red males of A. frenatus. The best means of separation is the pronounced black border on the margins (particularly the rear one) of the white head bar in A. frenatus, which is lacking in A. melanopus.
Host anemone species: Usually Entacmaea quadricolor; occasionally Heteractis crispa; rarely H. magnifica
Melanistic variation: None except variation between "normal" dark colour phase and red "Fijian" phase noted above.
Distribution: Indonesia (Bali westward), Melanesia, Micronesia, southeastern Polynesia, and Great Barrier Reef - Coral Sea.