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Spine-cheek Anemonefish
Premnas biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)
Above and below:A Spine-cheek Anemonefish at a depth of 15 m, Steve's Bommie, Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, February 2005. Photo © A. Lumnitzer. View larger image.
The Spine-cheek Anemonefish can be recognised by its brown to red body, two or three pale (usually white) bands, and a long spine below both eyes.
This species lives among the tentacles of the sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor. It feeds on zooplankton and algae.
Spine-cheek Anemonefish occurs on coral reefs in marine waters of the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
In Australia it is known from the offshore islands of north-western Western Australia and from the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
This species has also been called the Tomato Clownfish.
Related links
- Barrier Reef Anemonefish fact sheet
- Clown Anemonefish fact sheet
- False-Clown Anemonefish fact sheet
- View the Anemonefishes list
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
