Amphiprion ocellaris “Fancy White” Clownfish, Just Barely Grade

The Fancy White is a designer variant of the Ocellaris Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris. It originated in the tanks of Bill Addison’s C-Quest hatchery several years back now. But there’s an interesting genetic story at play here. Despite having unusual bar patterns, in every other respect, the Wyoming White is simply a standard A. ocellaris.It just has one copies of a mutant gene that affect how stripes develop on the flanks of the fish.  The related Wyoming White Clownfish has two copies of this same mutant gene. Fancy Whites are carriers of the DaVinci gene; we’d shorthand it as Dv/+ as breeders.

In any case, mating two “Fancy Whites” together will yield rather predictable outcomes; 25% wild-type fish, 50% Fancy Whites, and 25% Wyoming Whites. By the same token, because Wyoming Whites are Dv/Dv, the hypothesis is that they must pass along a Dv gene to every one of their offspring.

Fancy Whites, Gladiators and Davinci’s are more or less names for the same thing. Fancy White, originating out of Sustainable Aquatics, are considered to simply be carries of the Davinci gene that are also members of the “Fancy” Ocellaris strain (Fancy being SA’s line-bred ocellaris which have thicker black margins and the possibility of showing black on the flanks later in life).

Our “Just Barely” grade of Fancy White represents the offspring that show no bar connections and generally very minimal genetic influence. They may shown only a small backwards cap on the headstripe, a slightly misshapen midstripe, a tailbar that’s triangular like a midstripe, an errant spot, or some other minimalist markings.  It is still pretty safe to presume that they carry the Dv gene. These fish may, or may not, be comparable to some company’s “Semi” grade.

Pictures here are representative only. Since Fancy Whites are so variable, if you’re the type of person who doesn’t like surprises, I’d recommend you wait for a WYSIWYG offering instead of buying a stock fish.