Clown Fish Eggs

[brianjoy81]

Is it normal for the male clown to eat the eggs?

[bluwtr]

From Wikipedia "The fish lay their eggs in a safe spot close to the anemone from where they are easily protected, and the parents can retreat to the safety of the anemone if danger threatens. Anemonefish usually lay their nests in the evening after a few days of carefully cleaning and examining the chosen site. Preferred egg sites are flat or slightly curved rocks or some other item the fish have dragged near their nest for the purpose. (In captivity, clay pots and saucers are an attractive choice.) First the female deposits some eggs with her ovipositor (a whitish tube descending from her belly), making a wiggling pass over the surface, then the male follows behind her fertilizing the eggs. After many passes, the nest is complete and will hatch in 6–8 days shortly after sunset, usually on a very dark night. In the meantime, the male is very protective of the nest and ceaselessly fans the eggs to provide proper oxygen circulation, and checks them for any bad eggs, which he eats before they can rot and damage more eggs. Females may or may not help the male tend the nest. At hatching, the larvae burst free and swim up toward the moonlight and the open ocean to ride the currents and eat plankton for about a week, before the still tiny metamorphosed clowns return to the reef and look for an anemone to settle into. Eventually the cycle repeats."

My pair has bred about 5 times over the last month--finally! One day there will be orange eggs on the rock, then a day or two later the eggs have embryos in them and then a few days after that they are gone. Whether they die or hatch I don't know, but it is very cool regardless.

[Sandy]

My clowns have laid eggs and I have watched them hatch,,,, sadly,,, they just become part of the food chain. But it is really cool to watch.