Photos of clownfish and damsel fish from Raja Ampat in Indonesia

December 2012 

Several species of clown fish with different liveries, living in symbiosis with a wide variety of anemones, are found in large numbers in West Papua, especially in the protected lagoons. Damsel fish are also found here, often swimming in groups of hundreds of individuals.

Sea anemone
Sea anemone photo. A big purplish sea anemone grows around the leaf corals and is home to a small clown fish.
Clown fish Clown fish into sea anemone
Nemo Amphiprion frenatus
Clown fish photos. Among the sea anemones belonging to the genera Heteractis and Stoichactis, a symbiosis with clownfish is usually established. The latter take advantage of the stinging tentacles of the sea anemones, to which they are immune, to defend themselves from predators, while in return the sea anemone is cleaned from parasites usually eat by clownfish. In the photos, an Amphiprion frenatus.
Clown fish picture. Raja Ampat is home to a wide variety of sea anemones, where you can find different species of clownfish.
Nemo fish Clown fishes



Photos of clownfish. The beautiful livery of Amphiprion ocellaris, very similar to that of 'Amphiprion percula, was probably the inspiration for the famous cartoon "Finding Nemo"
Black clown fish
Photo of a clown fish having a particularly dark livery.
Large sea anemone Amphiprion
Clownfish


Pictures of clownfish. A big anemone, showing thick tentacles of an intense greenish coloration, hosts several clownfish belonging to Amphiprion ocellaris specie.
Clownfishes
Photo of Amphiprion clown fish.
Amphiprion percula Amphiprion ocellaris
More photos of clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris, very similar to Amphiprion percula.
Flat sea anemone
Photo of sea anemone very flat-shaped and apparently not hosting any clownfish.
Sea anemones Amphiprion clarkii
Pictures of Amphiprion percula (photo to the left) and of Amphiprion clarkii (photo to the right).
Sea anemone with clownfish
Pictures of sea anemone hosting a clown fish.
Cardinal fish
In the protected lagoons of the various islands within Raja Ampat, there are many fish that live in small schools around the corals. In this photo, some cardinal fish whose livery if very similar to the backdrop.
Damselfish
Pomacentrus moluccensis

A group of fish belonging to genus Pomacentrus, swimming around a coral within the protected lagoon of an island.
Sea damsels
Small fish showing an intense blue coloration, are safe from larger predators, using the thick branches of an Acropora as a refuge.
Madrepora Blue fish
Damsel fish photos. Fish of various colors, generally classified as "damsel fish", swimming among the corals.
Coral with damsel fish
Other small fish finding a shelter between corals.
Damselfish
Damselfish pictures. Dascyllus aruanus and Pomacentrus moluccensis swimming around an Acropora.
Green fish Damsel fishes
Dascyllus aruanus Pomacentrus
Neoglyphidodon oxyodon Neglyphidodon
Neoglyphidodon oxyodon


Other fish that can be placed in the group commonly known as damsel fish. On the top photos, a damsel fish belonging to the genus Neglyphidodon.
Razor fish
Photos of razor fish. The razor fish (Aeoliscus) is so named because of its thickness: in this picture we can see only those oriented towards the wider side, as they are extremely thin. They swim by rotating on themselves, so when they are oriented along the thinner side, they become for a moment invisible, thus confusing the predators.

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