Amphiprion biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
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).
Like all anemonefishes it forms a symbiotic mutualism with sea anemones and is unaffected by the stinging tentacles of the host anemone. It is a sequential hermaphrodite with a strict size-based dominance hierarchy; the female is largest, the breeding male is second largest, and the male nonbreeders get progressively smaller as the hierarchy descends. They exhibit protandry, meaning the breeding male changes to female if the sole breeding female dies, with the largest nonbreeder becoming the breeding male. The fish's natural diet includes algae and zooplankton.
Wikipedia contributors, Maroon clownfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T18:59:53.990069+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Amphiprion biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)
- Name authority
- (Bloch, 1790)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Pomacentridae
- Genus
- Amphiprion
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- familyPomacentridae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusAmphiprion Bloch & Schneider, 1801
- speciesAmphiprion biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Amphiprion. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Amphiprion barberi Allen, Drew & Kaufman, 2008 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion frenatus Brevoort, 1856 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| skunk clownfishAmphiprion akallopisos Bleeker, 1853 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion akindynos Allen, 1972 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| twoband anemonefishAmphiprion bicinctus Rüppell, 1830 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion chagosensis Allen, 1972 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion chrysopterus Cuvier, 1830 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| saddle anemonefishAmphiprion ephippium (Bloch, 1790) | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion latezonatus Waite, 1900 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion leucokranos Allen, 1973 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion mccullochi Whitley, 1929 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphiprion omanensis Allen & Mee, 1991 | PomacentridaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Holocentrus sonnerat Lacepède, 1802 Lacepède, 1802 | synonym |
| Lutianus trifasciatus Schneider, 1801 Schneider, 1801 | synonym |
| Chaetodon biaculeatus Bloch, 1790 Bloch, 1790 | synonym |
| Premnas biaculeatus (Bloch, 1790) (Bloch, 1790) | synonym |
| Premnas gibbosus Castelnau, 1875 Castelnau, 1875 | synonym |
| Premnas unicolor Cuvier, 1829 Cuvier, 1829 | synonym |
| Premnas epigrammata Fowler, 1904 Fowler, 1904 | synonym |
| Premnas semicinctus Cuvier, 1830 Cuvier, 1830 | synonym |
| Sargus ensifer Gronow, 1854 Gronow, 1854 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1605249 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:D5B3S. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.