New SalvaDali Clownfish, Latest Hybrid from SA

New Salva Dali Clownfish (Amphiprion Percularis (Dv/+)) from Sustainable Aquatics – this pair shows some interesting smudgy markings as well.

Pursuing new hybrid clownfish, Sustainable Aquatics is back with a new combination it has named the Salva Dali. This hybrid is the result of mating a “Longfin” Amphiprion ocellaris with a Picasso Percula, A. percula. The resultant hybrid, at its base level without all the mutant genes, is simply a “Percularis,” half Ocellaris Clownfish, half Percula Clownfish.

It is likely that this fish has been “made” before. The hybrid pairing behind the “Picassnow” (Snowflake Ocellaris X Picasso Percula) hypothetically should yield 4 phenotypes: the wild-type, 3-barred Percularis, a Snow Onyx, and the Picassnow (carrying both Picasso and Snowflake genes), but the hybrid showing only the Picasso gene never received a name, and was probably sold into the trade as lower-grade Picassnows.

Turning back to Sustainable’s work, their pairing removes “Snowflake” genetics from the mix, leaving only Picasso (which affects striping) and Longfin mutations at play. While only a single Longfin offspring has resulted from this mating so far, Matthew Carberry, President of Sustainable Aquatics, shared some interesting thoughts on the appearance of the offspring when it came to the Picasso genetic, which is particularly noteworthy since we know there’s nothing else in the mix.

“We don’t see a very high percentage of fish with markings from this pair,” wrote Carberry. “The regular ones are sold as “Percularis,” but tend to have a bit more black due to the black coloration coming from the Picasso and the darker color of the Fancy.

“One interesting observation with these fish is that the markings look more like the FancyWhite / Gladiator / Da Vinci markings than they do the ‘pure’ Picasso patterning, so I am wondering if they are actually the same mutation manifesting itself differently in ocellaris vs. percula,” continued Carberry.  “Both mutations [what I call the DaVinci gene from Ocellaris, and the Picasso gene found in Percula – Matt Pedersen] seem to follow all the same rules as far as the expected output for single/double dose and 100% true breeding for Platinum vs. White.”

Sustainable Aquatics customers have already seen some availability of the Salva Dali clownfish in recent weeks, as SA released them before making any formal announcement. Regarding the name, well, that’s an interesting story too. Carberry explained, “I was joking in the shipping room one day that I always thought the markings on the Picasso clowns were much more reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s work than that of Picasso’s (you know, melty clocks and stuff?), and that Dali was the type of quirky character who needed a clownfish in his name. So Amy came up with the name and listed these new fish as ‘Salva Dali’ clownfish, since they aren’t full Picasso clowns and yet have similar markings. The crew here got a kick out of it, and they sell pretty well!”

We hope you enjoy this gallery featuring example pairs of the Salva Dali Clownfish.