Our first glimpse of the Picasso Clarki clownfish was based on some juveniles spotted in the UK. While visiting House of Fins in Greenwich CT this weekend we were pleasantly surprised to see a decent batch of the Picasso Clarki clownfish which were larger and with a more developed Picasso barring pattern. Perhaps what was most startling about the patterning of the Picasso is how differently it develops from that of the Picasso and Snowflake varieties.
Whereas the Picasso and Snowflake Ocellaris clownfish have bars with wildly varying outline, the Picasso Clarkii have normal bars which are supplemented with a random spots and shapes, not unlike the Spotcinctus clownfish, and they all show a little bit of the Pearl-eye mutation, some specimens to a great degree.
These Picasso Clarki clownfish were originally produced in Bali and imported by Aqua Terra, the same progenitors of the yellow faced coral beauty. Although we have grown quite used to ORA being the primary producer of new clownfish strains in the world, and most other strains coming from the US, it was only a matter of time until other strong marine fish breeding nations participated in the living color pallette of captive raised clownfish for the aquarium trade.
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