Percula Clownfish - Recruitment

Recruitment

Recruitment is the number of individuals in a given species that can survive within a certain amount of time following larval habitation. The higher the level of recruitment, the better chance a larva has of surviving long enough to become an actual fish. Large food supplies, low predator threats, and the availability of nearby anemonefish are all factors that affect recruitment levels of Amphirion Percula. Amphiprion Percula, like most coral reef fish, have a bipartite life cycle. This life cycle has a scattering pelagic larval stage whereas its resident phase is motionless. At the end of the A. Percula’s pelagic phase, the larvae begin to settle on the coral reef and begin their recruiting process in the resident population. Larvae that settle successfully and join a resident population are called recruits. Anemonefish species are recruited to areas where the fish are commonly found. Most anemonefish are site-attached and do not move from one anemone to another that are spatially distributed more than a few meters. This is simply because it is always a dangerous undertaking for A. Percula to be outside their anemonefish safe haven, exposed to dangerous predators. They are also very poor swimmers, increasing the risk involved in travel. Recruitment is essentially the only method that the fish can use to inhabit new anemones. Finding a better living situation in a different anemone is unlikely because every anemone is already occupied by other anemonefish species. Anemonefish are known for reproducing all year round when they are in lower latitudes and it is anticipated that recruitment with these fish would follow the same pattern.