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The relationship between aggression and maintenance behaviors in three captive Amphiprion ocellaris (common name clownfish) occupying a single host anemone was studied. Additionally, how these behaviors differed in relation to A. ocellaris orange and melanistic variants was examined for the first time. Captive A. ocellaris at the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire were observed virtually using a webcam. Results showed a significant strong, negative association between aggressive and maintenance behaviors for all three individuals, suggesting a trade-off between these behaviors. When the two color variants were analyzed independently, the melanistic individuals showed a stronger negative association than the orange variant. The less pronounced trade-off in the orange individual may be explained by the greater frequency of "leave" behaviors observed in the orange individual. This is the first study to report different behaviors observed in two color variants of A. ocellaris.
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Hussey et al. (2024) studied this question.
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