No offense meant to you, but seriously, don't bother criticizing someone else if you don't have a clue what you're typing about
Ouch! I thought this site was known for its open minded members that can take critisizm...which I certainly can myself and please don't feel otherwise when I point out that I certainly do know what I am typing about. That being said, I applaud your efforts, but you have already disproved yourself since you have already contradicted initial post as to domino damsels hosting in anemones is some sort of evolutionary anomaly when they have been known to do so for much longer than pengy666's has been.
Additionally, it is pretty clear that it is the anemone fish's slime coat which allows it to live in an anemone without being 'stung' by it, although it may not be clear as to what is the actual difference from other slime coats that give this ability. That being said...
I should also point out that the fact that a great many invertebrates do indeed host in anemones, and all of these have evolved similar characteristics as clown fish; for example bright colours, exaggerated features, et cetera. This is called convergent evolution and it has absolutely nothing to do with the thread above.
...are you trying to imply that coloration and characteristics are what give this ability? Or are you trying to imply that every invert that can live within or travel over an anemone must also have the same mucous-like coating?
It the
anemone shrimp all that much different looking from other shrimp?
The
anemone crab looks pretty much like other crabs as well, IMHO.
Other than perhaps color, the
anemone hermit crab also looks just like most other hermits we commonly keep.
But I suppose it may be somewhat odd that the
Pom-Pom crab does carry two anemones in each claw.
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Don't get me wrong here, I was not trying to offend anyone, nor imply that I know everything and everything there is to know about marine life (however, don't be fooled, I may be new to the forum, but not the hobby and in fact, have kept/am keeping a wide array of marine livestock), however, I was certainly trying to imply that it seemed as though you were trying to imply that the domino damsel hosting in an anemone is some sort of 'freak' of nature, when it really isn't....and I thought I would point that out. Additionally, I have kept a
Blackmouth Bicolor Chromis (aka, blackmouth damsel) which hosted a significantly large carpet anemone until I had to remove the anemone for the safety of my other fish...which were all docile fish (i.e. foxface, bannerfish, chromis, mandarins, among others) that should not have posed any huge reason for it to host when it otherwise should not. Granted, I realize this is different than in the 'real world', but still, the point is valid.
I also agree that many times we must keep schooling fish singularly in our aquariums, but really only for a few reasons:
1) It would require a HUGE tank to keep a school (e.g. tangs, since they need a lot of swimming room)
2) We would need to purchase many expensive fish at one time in order to do so, and the ability would be lost if we try to add them at different times
3) Being a closed system and with the fact that saltwater fish are more sensitive to water chemistry/quality, we simply cannot add the significant number of fish which would constitute much more than a couple mated pairs.
However, it is true that we can keep multiple damsels in the same tank together, and currently I have quite a few (7) yellow-tail blue damsels and they do not school/shoal in the least, even with the presence of a predatory fish such as my lionfish giving them a theoretical reason to school/shoal.
And I do not think I am all that far off on the idea that territorial fish do not school/shoal often, even if there are exceptions and would add that the fish you may be thinking of are not really territorial, only less tolerant of conspecifics in an aquarium setting, especially those of the same sex since it is very true that we can, and many do, keep schools of tangs...heck, I have even kept multiple dwarf angels in the same tank together without any issues at all and would say this is quite possible for anyone if they have a large enough tank, live rock, and possibly other things I am forgetting about right now.
So, thanks for agreeing with me and again, I meant no offense and took none myself either...just enjoying a good conversation.
