True or False?

[redchick2]

I think these guys are false Percs. Is there a way a quick rule of thumb to know?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Look like false percs to me. True percs have much more black surrounding the white stripes. If you have a side view of the other one, that would help too

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree with Lindsay.

 

[redchick2]

false percs

Here's a clearer shot of both guys.... they are almost identical. One is a tad bit smaller than the other, though.

 

[Hogie]

From what I have seen, the True's would have thicker black lines between the orange and the white. I could be wrong though.

 

[Tony Gill]

There was a lengthy thread a month or so back on how to tell A. percula from A. ocellaris. I don't think the colour deal is as reliable as most hobbyists think, at least based on photos I checked of individuals from known localities (and thus identities). Some perculas have very little black, and some ocellaris have lots (indeed all black between the white bars). The other things to look for are the height of the spiny dorsal and the number of dorsal-fin spines. Obviously the former is easier to check on aquarium specimens. Check out Fishbase for the fin height character (and ignore the illustrations - from memory, one is incorrectly identified).

Tony

 

[Tony Gill]

I just checked Fishbase, and from what I can see of the fin height in your photos, they look like A. ocellaris. (In A. percula, the spiny portion of the dorsal isn't as high.)

Tony

 

[Tank2379]

The answer is False.... Here is a Shot of a True Percula Clown so you could tell the Difference...

 

[redchick2]

the lines are darker, and mine have a black border along the top of the dorsal.
Thanks for the pic, it helped a bunch.

 

[Tony Gill]

As I mentioned before, please be wary of just using coloration to tell these two apart. To give you an idea of how unreliable this is, check out the photos of P. percula in Allen's "Anemonefishes of the World" - or even just those of the two species on Fish: Search FishBase. Also, the dark edging on the dorsal fin varies in both species. The height of the spiny part of the dorsal fin is a much easier character to use (once you have your eye in). From what I could see on your photo, yours have fairly tall spiny dorsals (typical of A. ocellaris), whereas in true A. percula the spiny dorsal is somewhat shorter - compare yours against Tank2379's photo of A. percula.

Tony