The Peacekeeper Maroon Clownfish made a sensational debut on the world stage when it was first introduced by Captive Bred. After more than a year of waiting, Alpha Aquaculture has secured the first imports of this epic clownfish strain from Israel, and several fish are already alive and well at their Madison, Wisconsin facility.
Maroon clownfish, Premnas biaculeatus, have enjoyed just as much designer breeding as all the fancy domestic strains of Amphiprion. But something about the larger, more showy sizes and deep dark red base coloration of maroon clownfish makes them stand out from the ocellaris and percula strains.
Fancy breeds like goldflake, gold nuggets and lightning maroon clownfish elicit a great deal more excitement than their ‘regular’ clownfish counterparts. This difference is perhaps due in small part because maroon clownfish are a somewhat harder to breed, and much harder to raise in numbers since this genus of anemonefish is much more pugnacious than the ‘orange clownfish’.
So you can imagine the aquarium hobby’s collective excitement when the peacekeeper maroon clownfish was introduced. Unlike the albino clownfish of South Africa and the Golden clownfish from Hong Kong, the Peacekeeper maroon has not faded into obscurity and in a few short weeks, the first specimen of this new Premnas strain will be offered up for sale in the United States.
Like the Sea & Reef “Super DaVinci” clownfish, the Peacekeeper is patterned with dramatic striping across the body and face. The ‘barring’ is quite irregular yet boldly outlined in a blackish-blue coloration that really serves to highlight this domestic maroon clownfish strain.
Pictured here are exclusive first photos of the first Peacekeeper Maroon Clownfish that will be offered up for sale by Alpha Aquaculture, tentatively named PK-003. This individual sports a wildly colored face mask, a broad white patch on the top of the body and a semi-lightning style patterning on the lower part of the body. Equally noticeable in the “Alpha Peacekeeper” are a couple of brilliant blue spots in the soft dorsal fin.
There is no precedent for this style of bold striping, patterning and color in maroon clownfish, so the release of the first Peacekeeper Maroon Clownfish is the foundation for a whole new genetic line of guppyfication domestication for this species. If you thought the Lightning Maroon Clownfish were expensive when they were released, then you don’t want to know how much it will cost to get your hands on a Peacekeeper Maroon, at least the first few.
If you think the Peacekeeper Maroon Clownfish look good now as large juveniles, imagine what they’ll look like as large adults! Maroon clownfish can easily grow to twice the adult size of most other species of Amphiprion, and their colors will grow and change with them as they get older. A three inch solid white wyoming white clownfish may be impressive but when these Peacekeeper Maroons get four inches long or more, they will be untouchable in their sheer show-quality.
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