Notes on the genus Amphiprion Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (Teleostei: Pomacentridae) and its host sea anemones in the Seychelles

The genus Amphiprion Bloch & Schneider, 1801, is represented in the Seychelles by two species, A. akallopisos Bleeker, 1853, and the endemic A. fuscocaudatus Allen, 1972. Throughout its distributional range Amphiprion akallopisos has exclusively been recorded to associate with the clownfish anemones Heteractis magnifica (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833) and Stichodactyla mertensii Brandt, 1835. During the Netherlands Indian Ocean Programme (NIOP) Seychelles Expedition 19921993 this was confirmed for the Seychelles, although the species was predominantly found with H. magnifica, the most common host anemone in the islands. So far, Amphiprion fuscocaudatus had exclusively been reported as a symbiont of Stichodactyla mertensii. During the NIOP Seychelles Expedition three additional hosts were recorded: Entacmaea quadricolor (Rüppell & Leuckart, 1828), Heteractis aurora Quoy & Gaimard, 1833 (a smooth tentacled form) and S. haddoni (Saville-Kent, 1893). The two Amphiprion species occurring in the Seychelles seem hardly competitive. A. akallopisos predominantly associates with Heteractis magnifica, whereas A. fuscocaudatus associates with at least four other, less common anemone species. It is striking that Heteractis crispa (Ehrenberg, 1834), the second common host anemone in the Seychelles, was never found associated with fish excepting juvenile Dascyllus trimaculatus Rüppell, 1829, while elsewhere in its range it associates commonly with an array of Amphiprion spp.