McCulloch's Anemonefish, Amphiprion mccullochi Whitley 1929
McCulloch's Anemonefish, Amphiprion mccullochi, at Lord Howe Island. Source: Andrew J. Green / Reef life Survey. License: CC by Attribution
A dark brown anemonefish with a pale snout, a white bar on each side of the head (but not connected on top of the head in adults) and a whitish tail and tail base. Juveniles have three pale bands on the body.
McCulloch's Anemonefish, Amphiprion mccullochi Whitley 1929
More Info
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Distribution |
Endemic to the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea off eastern Australia - within the Australian EEZ. Inhabits rocky and coral reefs, especially lagoons and reef edges, living in a mutualistic partnership with the Bubbletip Anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor. At Lord Howe Island, most individuals (~75%) occur within the lagoon. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin IX, 15-17; Anal fin II, 13-14. |
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Size |
Max size 12 cm TL. |
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Colour |
A dark brown anemonefish with a pale greyish snout, a broad white bar on each side of the head (but not connected on top of the head) and a pale tail. Small juveniles have two white bands on the body - one encircling the head, and the other just before the origin of the anal fin that extends as a white margin on the soft-rayed part of the dorsal fin. They also have a yellow snout, a broad yellow margin on the pectoral fins, a yellow caudal peduncle (tail base) with a white upper margin that extends along the upper part of the tail. |
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Feeding |
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Biology |
Anemone fishes live in small social groups in a commensal relationship with host anemones, and are protandrous hermaphrodites, with the ability to change sex from male to female. They form monogamous pairs and The groups include a monogamous pair of sexually functional adults and from zero to several sexually non-functional subadults and juveniles. Individuals first mature as functional males with gonads comprising both ovarian tissue with immature oocytes and testicular tissue with active spermatogenesis. During the functional female phase however, only ovarian tissue is present. Sex change is socially controlled by a strict dominance hierarchy, with the single female as the largest fish in the group. During the breeding season, males select nesting sites close to the host anemone. They clear the site of any algae and debris, often aided by the female, and she lays her eggs onto this surface. |
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Fisheries |
This popular aquarium fish is aquacultured under permit. |
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Conservation |
This species is threatened by habitat loss. It is dependent on its anemone host species, which is susceptible to bleaching and subsequent death due to increasing water temperatures resulting from climate change. |
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Remarks |
Anemonefish and their anemone hosts live in a mutualistic partnership - the anemone protects the clownfish against predators, and the fish provides the anemone's zooxanthellae algae with excreted nutrients. |
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Similar Species |
Similar to the Blackback Anemonefish, Amphiprion melanopus, which has a reddish chest, belly and dorsal fin, with a yellowish to slightly reddish tail. The white bars are often connected over the top of the head in adult A. melanopus. |
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Etymology |
The species is named for Allan Riverstone McCulloch, a former Curator of Fishes at the Australian Museum, Sydney, who collected the type specimen at Lord Howe Island: "It was collected at Lord Howe Island by my late senior colleague, Allan Riverstone McCulloch, to whose memory I dedicate the species." |
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Species Citation |
Amphiprion mccullochi Whitley 1929, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(3): 213. Type locality: Lord Howe Island |
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Author |
Bray, R.D. & Bray, D.J. 2025 |
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Resources |
McCulloch's Anemonefish, Amphiprion mccullochi Whitley 1929
References
Allen, G.R. 1975. Damselfishes of the South Seas. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey. 240 pp.
Allen, G.R. 1991. Damselfishes of the world. Mergus Publishers, Melle, Germany. 271 pp.
Allen, G.R. 2001. Family Pomacentridae. pp. in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.
Allen, G.R. 2022. Amphiprion mccullochi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T188498A1884312. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-2.RLTS.T188498A1884312.en. Accessed on 18 March 2025.
Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A. Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30: 365–454.
Choat, J.H., van Herwerden, L., Robbins, W.D., Hobbs, J.P. & Ayling, A.M. 2006. A report on the ecological surveys undertaken at Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs, February 2006. Report by James Cook University to the Department of the Environment and Heritage. 65 pp.
Coleman, N. 1980. Australian Sea Fishes South of 30ºS. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 309 pp.
Coleman, N. 2002. Lord Howe Island Marine Park. Brisbane, Australia : Neville Coleman’s Underwater Geographic. 96 pp.
Fautin, D.G. & Allen, G.R. 1992. Field guide to anemonefishes and their host sea anemones. Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth. 160 pp.
Francis M.P. 2022. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean, version 2022.1. https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/LH_NI_KI_checklist_2022_1_xlsx/21563766/1
Frisch, A.J., Rizzari, J.R., Munkres, K.P. & Hobbs, J.P. 2016. Anemonefish depletion reduces survival, growth, reproduction and fishery productivity of mutualistic anemone-anemonefish colonies. Coral Reefs 35: 375–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-016-1401-8
Gill, A.C. & Reader, S.E. 1992. Fishes. pp. 90-93 in Hutchings, P. (ed.). Reef Biology. A Survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific. Canberra : Australian National Parks Vol. 3, Kowari 230 pp.
Hobbs, J.-P. A., Choat, J.H., Robbins, W.D., van Herwerden, L., Feary, D.A., & Ayling A.M. 2008. Unique fish assemblages at world’s southernmost oceanic coral reefs, Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, Tasman Sea, Australia. Coral Reefs 27: 15 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-007-0301-3
Hobbs, J.-P.A., Neilson, J. & Gilligan, J.J. 2009. Distribution, abundance, habitat association and extinction risk of marine fishes endemic to the Lord Howe Island region, report to Lord Howe Island Marine Park, report prepared by James Cook University for the NSW MPA, 4 pp.
Hobbs, J.-P.A. 2022. Summary report on the conservation status of McCulloch’s anemonefish: towards consideration as a threatened species. Report for the Lord Howe Island Marine Park, Lord Howe Island.
Lei, C., Hobbs, J.-P.A., Riginos, C. et al. 2025. Conserving Nemo: Genomic insights into the history and status of the endangered anemonefish Amphiprion mccullochi and its sister species Amphiprion akindynos. Conservation Genetics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-025-01678-2
Litsios, G. & Salamin, N. 2014. Hybridisation and diversification in the adaptive radiation of clownfishes. BMC Evolutionary Biology 14: 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-014-0245-5
Ogilby, J.D. 1889. The reptiles and fishes of Lord Howe Island. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 2(3): 51-74 pls 2-3 (as Amphiprion melanopus)
Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Osborne, K. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, December 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Sciences 64 pp.
Richardson, D. 1998. Descriptions of the colour patterns of juvenile anemonefishes (Pomacentridae: Amphiprion) from New South Wales and the Lord Howe-Norfolk Island region. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 120: 81-86. See ref at BHL
van der Meer, M.H., Gardner, M.G., Hobbs, J.-P.A., Jones, G.P. & van Herwerden, L. 2012. Identification of seventeen microsatellite markers for conservation genetic studies of the endemic anemonefish, Amphiprion mccullochi. Conservation Genetics Resources 4(2): 247-250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-011-9517-1
van der Meer, M.H., Hobbs, J.-P.A., Jones, G.P. & van Herwerden, L. 2012. Genetic connectivity among and self-replenishment within island populations of a restricted range subtropical reef fish. PLOS ONE 7(11): e49660. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0049660
van der Meer, M.H., Jones, G.P., Hobbs, J-P.A. & van Herwerden, L. 2012. Historic hybridization and introgression between two iconic Australian anemonefish and contemporary patterns of population connectivity. Ecology and Evolution 2(7): 1592–1604. https://doi.org/ 10.1002/ece3.251
Waite, E.R. 1904. Additions to the fish-fauna of Lord Howe Island. No. 4. Records of the Australian Museum 5(3): 135-186 fig. 32 pls 17-24 https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.5.1904.1053 (as Amphiprion melanopus)
Whitley, G.P. 1929. Some fishes of the order Amphiprioniformes. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(3): 207-246 figs 1-4 pls 27-28 See ref at BHLWong, M.Y.L., Beasley, A.L., Douglass, T., et al. 2017. Some anemonefish lack personality: a comparative assessment of behavioral variation and repeatability in relation to environmental and social factors. Coral Reefs 36: 1307–1316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-017-1625-2
