Tiny black spots on my percula clown fish??

[twiddledog]

I am noticing some tiny black spots on the orange part of my clown. Anyone have any ideas what this is? Is it natural? He/she is acting and eating fine.

 

[fishieness]

are they just a darker color? if it is a darker color and not bumpbs, then it is probably just melinin production. it is a natural pigment (the one that turns you tan actualy) and in clownfish, it is released in areas where the fish has been stung by any corals or anenomes. most of the time, these stings have no ill effect on the fish's health, but just leave the pigment as a mark.

 

[twiddledog]

They are not bumps. They look someone took a black pen and made a dot. There are three all in a row.

 

[fishieness]

yeah, i would guess just melenin marks. my clowns had tons of them when they hosted my open brain.
but do you have a pic?
from your description, i am jsut about positive that is what they are, but an extra pic woudl help.

 

[shawn]

About a year ago I found that one day my clown was covered with them. I freaked out and caught it and put it in QT. Those I asked here said that they had seen similar things with clowns, probably associated with bad contact with some kind of coral (in my case, maybe a hammer coral). I popped it back in the tank and it has been fine to this day (and the spots have faded somewhat).

Here is the thread:

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14708

Good luck!

 

[~Flighty~]

zoanthids seem to be a very common cause of the dark spots. even if they mostly host in something else, if they ocationally rub in the zoas they can get the spots. it is also interesting that hosting in mertins anemones can turn many clownfish all black with white stripes.