The Longfin Clownfish first revealed by Sustainable Aquatics is breeding true, and finally available in enough numbers for them to be sold to the public. With a yield rate of just 10% per brood, the longfin strain is far from being fixed in the common, ocellaris clownfish, but the trait is quite exaggerated in the specimens that do display it.
The longfin clownfish is one of the first longfin varieties of any saltwater fish, but flowing luxurious betta-fish fins is not what we get here. Instead of an even, gently billowing fins we expect to see in veiltail goldfish, freshwater angelfish and Betta splendens, the first longfin saltwater fish has uneven and stiff kind of fins that normally look ragged. Check out this video of the longfin clownfish to see how their fins move while they swim.
We hesitate to say that the “guppyfication” of the marine clownfish is complete, because this trait is so new and it has just opened pandora’s box of weird and wonderful new strains we can expect to see in the future. Sustainable Aquatics seems to be encouraging others to experiment with this trait as for now they are only offering the new strain as pairs which are priced to retail around $500.
The longfin trait may not appeal to some, or many or you, but we are certainly curious to see what kind of improvements can be made to this trait in the future. If even growth and more supple fins can be developed in the clownfish, we could see ourselves kinda liking this fish if the perfection of it yields something that is more uniform in expression.
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