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20/11/22 Saddleback anemonefish protect their eggs at Koh Sak island. All clownfish are hermaphrodites, which means they have male and female organs. They start out their lives as immature males, and reach sexual maturity around years of age. If they remain together as a group, all the fish in the group – except for two – will remain immature males. One fish will become the mature, breeding male, and the other will change gender from male to female and become the breeding female. If she dies, the breeding male changes gender from male to female. Then one of the immature males gets ‘promoted’ to become the mature, breeding male. Clownfish spawn about every 10-14 days, and lay between 100-1,500 eggs; the eggs then hatch between 8 and 10 days later. The fish clean a small patch of rock near the area where they spend most of their time and lay their eggs on that rock. The male tends the eggs, and this is where he spents most of his time over the entire 8-day period, pecking at the eggs with his mouth or fanning them with his pectoral fins. The pecking activity is his normal behavior, this is the way he keeps the eggs clean. The female is less attached to the nest. She circles the spawning area but at a greater distance. Occasionally, she swims closer to interact with the male. The most interesting change in the eggs begins on Day 5: they develop tiny eyes that reflect the light as the eggs sway in the water current. On Day 8 the eggs are set to hatch. Eyes are clearly visible in every egg. When the larvae hatch, baby clownfish look like tiny shards of glass of 3 mm in length with big eyes. The larvae feeds on copepods, rotifers, and phytoplankton. #PattayaDiversPattaya #PattayaFishes
