Nearly all Picasso and designer breeds of clownfish in captivity today are influenced by genes from just a handful of exceptional wild clownfish. The Joker clownfish pictured here is one such example of a “natural” Picasso clownfish that was collected in the Philippines this summer.
We’ve seen plenty of noteworthy clownfish from the wild with really great or otherwise unusual color patterns, but specimens with ‘Picasso’ barring, striping and spots from the wild are really rare. This is one special account of the Joker clownfish not just at its source, but now in its new home in England, thousands of miles from where it was collected.
In July of this year, collectors working for RVS Fishworld caught this incredible Joker clownfish in the Tawi Tawi Islands, at the very edge of the Philippines and deep in the heart of the Coral Triangle. An aquarium store called Burscough Aquatics got wind of this wild-caught Picasso clownfish and got their import agent to bring in an order with that clownfish from the Philippines.
Clownfish enthusiast Jake Green was the lucky recipient of the Joker Clownfish and he set up a new tank solely for the purpose of bringing this clown fish on and growing it up. Unfortunately due to an aggressive DaVinci Clownfish, Jake had to split a pair and put his Frostbite clownfish in the tank he had just set up whilst waiting for the new clownfish to arrive.
Once the clown had landed and arrived at Burscough Aquatics, it was allowed a few weeks to settle and to make sure everything it acclimated to aquarium life. When it was brought home, Jake introduced the Joker Clownfish to its new aquarium which now had the frostbite clown fish in it. It was an anxious 24 hours to see how it would be accepted by the frostbite, but the Joker soon asserted its dominance and since then they have been inseparable.
The wild Joker Clownfish is being fed small amounts daily with a twice weekly water change and its fins healed in no time and its colors really brightened up. Jake tells us that the Joker is a lot more lively than any captive bred clown he has kept, it eats great, its as healthy as possible and his aim is to breed it once it has reached maturity to hopefully prove a new bloodline/gene.
It really is great to introduce this clownfish not from its point of origin but at its new permanent home. It sounds like the Joker Clownfish is in excellent hands and we wish Jake the best in establishing a new bloodline of clownfish with genetics that will be invigorating to the pedigree of any clownfish it breeds with.
