Skip to main content
x

25 Amazing Photos of Anemonefish from our 2016 Photo Contest

By Scuba Diving staff | Published On March 11, 2017
Share This Article :

25 Amazing Photos of Anemonefish from our 2016 Photo Contest

Photography has always been a huge part of Scuba Diving magazine— it's also a way for non-divers to better relate to the underwater world we love so much.

The 2016 Through Your Lens photo contest provided us with some amazing images. Although everyone cannot be a winner, we still had to showcase these stunning photos below. This gallery features one of our favorite underwater critters, the anemonefish.

shrimp clownfish anemone orange underwater photography

ANEMONEFISH AND SHRIMP
Phillippines

Brandi Mueller

"While diving in the Philippines I stopped to admire a pretty anemone and one of the tiny cleaner shrimp was giving this anemonefish a quick bath. A second later the shrimp was back in the anemone," says photographer Brandi Mueller.


purple clownfish nemo anemone underwater photography

I FOUND NEMO
Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef

Wei-Ting Huang

Anemonefish are a subfamily of damsels, and there are approximately two dozen varieties that can be seen in the Tropical Pacific, and about a dozen more that can be sighted in other warm oceans.


Think you have what it takes to win? We are now accepting entries for the 2017 Through Your Lens photo contest. Enter here— and the best part is it's free!

clownfish fin pink green anemone underwater photography

CLOWNFISH LOVE
Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

Yung-Sen Wu

Anemonefish are sequential hermaphrodites — which is a fancy way of saying that they change sex as needed. All anemonefish are born male. In each community of fish on an anemone, only one dominant male and one dominant female engage in reproduction.


anemonefish clownfish orange anemone underwater photography

MIRROR IMAGE
Dauin, Phillippines

Indah Susanti

Anemonefish do not go on open ocean adventures like Nemo and his dad, but instead, apparently spend their lives on one anemone, or perhaps move to a neighboring anemone when overcrowding becomes an issue.


clownfish anemone purple dive underwater photography scuba diving

HEY, NEMO!
Michaelmas Cay, Great Barrier Reef

Wei-Ting Huang

Nemo is a false clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris), although it is possible that the cartoonists at Disney modeled him after a clown anemonefish — which are slightly more dramatic in coloration, but less common.


nemo peek gray anemone clownfish underwater photography

PEEK-A-BOO

Dominic Stewart-White

An anemonefish peeks through a dark gray anemone. The anemones and the anemonefish share a symbiotic existence, which means that each of them benefit from the presence of the other.


clownfish mouth open tongue anemone underwater photography

BE MY TONGUE

Tianhong Wang

An exuberant clownfish opens wide for the camera.


clownfish dark anemone black underwater photography

LIGHT PAINTING

Hsiu Ling Wu

Anemonefish can be very frustrating to photograph — many varieties flit about constantly, while others burrow down into their host anemone as soon as a diver approaches, and won’t make an appearance for the duration. Getting a decent shot of these beautiful little fish requires some patience, and luck.


isopod clownfish anemonefish dark underwater photography

CLOWNFISH AND ISOPOD
Banda Sea, Indonesia

Rob Michaelson

This clownfish encounters an isopod and decides to take matters into its own hands, or in this case, its mouth. Isopods are crustaceans that are sometimes referred to as "pillbugs," because they roll into a ball that looks like a pill.


clownfish nemo green anemone underwater photography

SUNDOWN AT THE ANEMONE
Bohol, Phillippines

Peter Williams

Clownfish at dusk near Bohol, Phillippines.


clown green fin swim anemone fish underwater photography

ANGEL
Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Debbie Arriaga

A spine-cheek anemone fish in a very special anemone in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.


nemo clownfish dark dusk anemone underwater photography

NEMO FOUND

Henley Spiers

"I wanted a different take on a familiar subject, the False Clown Anemonefish. I used a snoot to capture the fish in a different style. It took a few attempts to get the fish and lighting lined up," says photographer Henley Spiers.


clownfish two stripes orange anemone black underwater photography

CLOWNFISH BEAUTY

Joaquin Anico

"These two balance each other out," says photographer Joaquin Anico.


circus clownfish swim fin anemone underwater photography

CLOWNFISH CIRCUS

Conor Culver

Conor Culver interprets the clownfish as part of a stranger environment: the circus.


anemonefish bright clownfish papau new guinea underwater photography

NEMO: FOUND
Papau New Guinea

Ellen Rierson

An anemone fish tucked into its home.


anemonefish clown orange home underwater photography

CARE
Taiwan

Fei Yang

An anemonefish tends to its home.


sun anemone clown home reef ocean underwater photography

A CLOWNFISH AND HIS SUN

J. Gregory Sherman

A pair of clownfish inhabit their anemone home as the light shines upon them.


yellow anemone clownfish orange dive underwater photography

SCARFACE

Arthur Borges

"While diving in Bali we saw several clownfish but no one willing to play and pose like this one," says photographer Arthur Borges.


anemonefish clownfish nemo home reef underwater photography

RAISE THE REEF

Corine Bendajacq

Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae.


face clownfish close fin anemone underwater photography

WELCOME TO MY WORLD
Puerta Gallera, Phillippines

Linda McKean

"This particular dive I was focused on watching the large schools of reef fish busily feeding on plankton above the reef wall when this beautiful snow white anemone caught my attention," says photographer Linda McKean. "I dropped down for a closer look and the resident Tomato Anemonefish came close to greet me."


green swim clownfish anemone underwater photography

NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Great Barrier Reef

Edward Sarfan

A clownfish swims along the Great Barrier Reef inside its vibrant anemone home.


orange fin anemonefish papua new guinea underwater photography

CAUGHT ORANGE HANDED
Papua New Guinea

Klara Fejer

"Orange-fin anemonefish captured protecting his anemone in Papua New Guinea using a Nikon D800, 60mm Macro lens," says photographer Kiara Fejer.


anemone fish clown lights bright home underwater photography

SHY

Pedro Carrillo

Of the over 1,000 anemone species that live in the ocean, only 10 species coexists with the 26 species of tropical clownfish and, within these species, only select pairs of anemone and clownfish are compatible. The relationship captured in this photo is somehow a bit different from the traditional one, as Beaded sea anemones seldom host adult clownfishes, serving just as a temporary host for young clownfish that eventually move to more suitable anemones before reaching adulthood.


anemone bleach white clownfish contamination underwater photography

SAVE MY HOME

Fei Yang

Due to the discoloration of various coral reefs by way of contamination, clownfish and their anemones become affected. Anemones like the one pictured look bleached and white, but anemones should be vibrant and colorful in shades of usually pink, purple, yellow or green.


underwater photography anemone tentacles clownfish fins swim scuba diving

SPINECHEEK ANEMONEFISH
Wakatobi, Indonesia

Elizabeth Mcaninch

There are several different varieties of host anemones, which, although they look like exotic plants, are animals themselves. Some anemones that host anemonefish have short tentacles, some are long and spaghetti-like, and still others have bubbles on the tips of their tendrils.


Want more of Nemo and his friends? Check this out!