Yellowtail clownfish

Amphiprion clarkii

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth2–23 m
Water temperature22–29 °C
Best monthsMay, June, and September
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Clark's anemonefish, also known as the yellowtail clownfish, is a marine fish belonging to the family Pomacentridae, the clownfishes and damselfishes. 28 species of anemonefish live within the Pomacentridae family.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Clark's anemonefish”, 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: 392 records
February: 400 records
March: 466 records
April: 542 records
May: 545 records
June: 597 records
July: 536 records
August: 453 records
September: 545 records
October: 458 records
November: 473 records
December: 417 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 2–23 m · Deepest record: 45 m

0–10 m: 264 records
10–20 m: 135 records
20–30 m: 54 records
30–40 m: 12 records
40–50 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–29 °C

20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 6 records
24–26 °C: 9 records
26–28 °C: 17 records
28–30 °C: 102 records

Photos

(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Gregor Bailar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Gregor Bailar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Micha Baum, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Yellowtail clownfish, black clown, Brown anemonefish, chocolate clownfish, Clark's anemonefish, Clark's anemonefish, Yellowtail clownfish, Sea Bee, yellowtail clownfish

Names in 2 more languages

French: Poisson-clown à Queue Jaune, Poisson-clown de Clark
Japanese: Kumanomi, クマノミ

Other scientific names: Amphiprion boholensis, Amphiprion clarki, Amphiprion clarkia, Amphiprion japonicus, Amphiprion melanostolus, Amphiprion papuensis, Amphiprion snyderi, Amphiprion xanthurus, Anthias clarkii, Sparus milii

Similar species

Anemone Demoiselle
Amphiprion ocellaris
Spiny chromis
Acanthochromis polyacanthus
Golden Damsel
Amblyglyphidodon aureus
Ternate chromis
Chromis ternatensis
Blue-green damselfish
Chromis viridis
Weber's chromis
Chromis weberi

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).
1,813 open-data records from 1830 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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