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Maroon Clownfish

Amphiprion biaculeatus

  • Fish
  • IUCN: Least concern
  • Usual depth1–15 m
  • Water temperature26–30 °C
  • Best monthsSeptember, October, and November
  • How commonOccasional
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Photo credit: (c) greyloch, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Amphiprion biaculeatus, commonly known as spine-cheeked anemonefish or the maroon clownfish, is a species of anemonefish found in the Indo-Pacific from western Indonesia to Taiwan and the Great Barrier Reef. They can grow up to be about 17 cm (6.7 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Maroon clownfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

  • January: 90 records
  • February: 112 records
  • March: 144 records
  • April: 117 records
  • May: 156 records
  • June: 104 records
  • July: 147 records
  • August: 132 records
  • September: 184 records
  • October: 188 records
  • November: 174 records
  • December: 155 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–15 m · Deepest record: 17.5 m

  • 0–10 m: 23 records
  • 10–20 m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 26–30 °C

  • 24–26 °C: 1 records
  • 26–28 °C: 36 records
  • 28–30 °C: 45 records

Names and classification

English
Maroon Clownfish, spinecheek anemonefish, Spine-cheek Anemonefish, Spine-cheek Clownfish, Spine-cheeked Anemone-fish, Spine-cheeked Anemonefish, Tomato Clownfish
Names in 6 more languages
German
Samtanemonenfisch
Spanish
Pez payaso granate
French
Poisson-clown à joues épineuses
Japanese
シロミスジ, スパインチークアネモネフィッシュ
Thai
ปลาการ์ตูนแดง
Simplified Chinese
棘頰雙鋸魚, 透紅小丑

Other scientific names: Chaetodon biaculeatus, Holocentrus sonnerat, Lutianus trifasciatus, Premnas biaculeatus, Premnas epigrammata, Premnas gibbosus, Premnas semicinctus, Premnas unicolor, Sargus ensifer

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

  • Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
  • Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
  • Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
  • 343 open-data records from 1790 to 2021.
  • Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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