[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Samper

Even if a fish and anemone are captive bred and raised I believe they maintain their natural behaviors for the most part.

That's not an issue at all. They aren't going to loose their natural instinctive behaviors after just 20 years or so of captive breeding.

Isn't it possible that the relationships observed in the wild had factors unknown to the observer such as a plentiful food supply so that the anemone being watched didn't require feedings by it's host?

It is possible that the behaviors observed in captivity developed because of some unknown factors unique to captivity and unknown in the wild but I wouldn't go so far as to say that clownfish in captivity are concerned about their host's nutritional needs because this behavior is observed in tanks where the aquarist feeds the anemone regularly as well as in tanks where the aquarist doesn't feed the anemone at all because "the clownfish do all of the feeding."

Naturally the one factor that we already are aware of is the difference in food items between the natural diet and the captive diet.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Gene,

I agree with you that we can't be sure that the clownfish is actually feeding its host anemone. It is certainly not a natural behavior and has never been observed in the wild, but that's because, as you pointed out, clownfish eat tiny zooplankton and microalgae in the wild so maybe that's why. Maybe they don't know what to do with some of the stuff we feed them so they "feed" it to their anemone. Maybe they think they're just "taking it home for later." Who knows?

This topic has been discussed with someone who did her doctoral thesis and all of her post-doc work observing clownfish and their host anemones in their natural habitats and she reports that the feeding behavior observed in captivity does not happen in the wild.

George,

That's just it, I couldn't for the life of me make my observations support this theory that the clownfish is indeed feeding the anemone. Some food items were never "shoved" into the tentacles but the ones my Clarkii did not eat at once, she shoved in there.

Samper, I don't think I can agree with you on that the clownfish is actually trying to feed its host to preserve its habitat. In nature, the commensalism includes actual defence by the clownfish against all possible predators on the anemone (but I don't believe it includes provision of food), that would include the butterflies and other fish capable of eating it. A fairly large "clump" of clones of E.quadricolor could be hosting lots of clownfish capable of fighting off any intruder. As you know, they are damsels just wearing the pretty pajamas and will fight to the bitter end.

Originally Posted by Samper

Isn't it possible that the relationships observed in the wild had factors unknown to the observer such as a plentiful food supply so that the anemone being watched didn't require feedings by it's host?

That's exactly the point Nining( I believe) and I were trying to make. It does not happen in nature period, I don't think that the conclusions for the post- doctorate were based on observations of a single anemone.

[Samper]

I understand what you're both saying.