Amphiprion ocellaris “Frostbite” Clownfish, Subzero or Premium grade

The Subzero Frostbite Clownfish represents one of the latest legitimate innovations in designer clownfish production. Sustainable Aquatics arguably revolutionized the designer clownfish breeding world in 2013 with the announcement of the Frostbite Ocellaris Clownfish, as I first discussed on Reef Builders. This fish represents the first multi-gene, pure species designer clownfish created, combining the Snowflake gene and the Davinci gene in a single fish to create the new Frostbite phenotype.

Sustainable Aquatics arguably revolutionized the designer clownfish breeding world in 2013 with the announcement of the Frostbite Ocellaris Clownfish, as I first discussed on Reef Builders. This fish represents the first multi-gene, pure species designer clownfish created, combining the Snowflake gene and the Davinci gene in a single fish to create the new Frostbite phenotype.

Since that introduction, Sustainable Aquatics started with two separate grades, which have now grown to four unique grades of this genotype. “Flurry” Frostbite Ocellaris Clowns are mostly white, “Chilled” Frostbites may show a spot or two on the flanks, “Frozen” Frostbite Clownfish carry a fair amount of black spots on white flanks, while the Sub-Zero or Subzero Frostbite Ocellaris Clownfish is heavily spotted.   From where I sit, it appears that for a Frostbite to be considered a “Sub Zero”, it should have holes / spots above the lateral line as well as below, and likely has more than 10 spots per flank.  The size and distribution of those spots can vary dramatically.

There is still quite a bit of variation in the grading of these clownfish, and the dividing line is rather subjective, some people’s “Sub Zero” might be other people’s “Frozen”.  The fishes offered as “SubZero” Frostbites are, for the time being, all fishes sold to me as “Sub Zero” by Sustainable Aquatics.

“Premium” Grade Frostbites from Proaquatix appear comparable to “Sub Zero”, and are included here as well when in stock.

For all these reasons, if you are in any way “particular” about the appearance of the Frostbite you wish to purchase, please consider a WYSIWYG offering vs. ordering a “stock” fish.

While it is not definitive at this point, my working hypothesis, based on existing breeding results, suggests that first generation Frostbites, the progeny of a Snowflake mated to a Davinci or Wyoming White, should be able to pass along either a Snowflake gene, a Davinci gene, neither or both, to their offspring. Since breeders are not being exceptionally clear, and since no additional phenotypes have been reported, it is possible that other genotypes could exist and be sold along as Frostbites (for example fishes which have two Davinci genes instead of only one; this seems an unlikely scenario for the Snowflake gene however, as the existence of a homozygous, double-dose Snowflake Ocellaris has, to date, escaped my attention).

No two fish are alike, and I’m generally inclined to sell the fish at the grade they are sold as to me.Since “grading” is a subjective matter, anyone inclined to be upset if a fish doesn’t match exactly the representative fish shown here would be better off looking for a WYSIWYG offering.