AMPHIPRION FRENATUS BREVOORT, 1856
Tomato Anemonefish
Original description: As Amphiprion frenatus, from specimens collected at Japan
Colour features and size: Adults with a single white head bar; females mainly blackish on sides with red snout, breast, belly, and fins; males considerably smaller than females and lacking blackish colouration -- being instead red overall; juveniles with two or three white bars. Maximum length about 140 mm.
Similar species: Amphiprion rubrocinctus (northwestern Australia) is very similar in colouration, but its white bar lacks the distinctive black outline of A. frenatus; the bar in females is poorly developed, has an irregular outline, and is sometimes discontinuous on top of the head; the smaller male generally has blackish sides. Small juveniles of A. frenatus and A. rubrocinctus are very difficult to separate; because they do not have overlapping distributions, geography is the best means of distinguishing them. Amphiprion melanopus (western Pacific) is also similar, but generally has a broader white head bar and specimens from most areas (except eastern Melanesia) have black pelvic and anal fins.
Host anemone: Entacmaea quadricolor
Melanistic variation: Only that related to sex as described above.
Distribution: South China Sea and immediately adjacent areas, northwards to Japan.