black spots on clownfish normal?

I have been noticing round black patches developing on my ocellaris clownfish over the last month or so. They seem to just be pigment - not raised, just dark (almost black), not raised, and about 2mm in diameter or so. I wanted to know if it is normal or not for an ocellaris clown to develop dark patches/spots, and what could/should be done about this. I have seen pics of black ich, and this does not look like that.

 

My clowns have a few very small black spots on them. I would guess it is normal but I'm not an expert at clowns so I'm sure anohter member will chime in.

 

By chance have your clowns being hosting in any of your corals, the zoo's in particular?

 

They have not been hosting any corals that I have noticed...although I am only home a couple of hours a day. I have heard that spots can develop from stinging corals, but honestly I doubt that this is the cause in this case...the clown always seems to be swimming, not hosting.

 

Have you noticed him/her hosting in anything weird? There is a condition called hyper-melanization that is caused by stings from a cnardian. The black is the skin pigment responding to the sting. There seems to be a mixed school of thought on if it actually causes trauma/damage to the clown or not. I had the issue with my true perc pair hosting in my torch coral. Concern grew when I noticed the smaller male was suffering the worst of it and looked like he had a bit of eye trauma. I pulled them out for a couple weeks and upon reintroduction they have started hosting it again but with no issues.

EDIT: Whoops! all those posts while I was typing a response

I would check at night and see what you see, just because you don't always see it hosting doesnt mean it isn't happening. If the clown is relatively new out of a dealer tank it may have occurred there. If not, it may just be picking up more color as it ages.

 

my clowns got black spots from hosting zoas. the spots have all cleared up in the past 2 months since the clowns are in the 180 and ain't no zoas ever gonna be in that tank.

 

Watch them at night after the lights are off sometime. My clown doesnt hang out in the anemone to much during the day but at night doesnt leave its side. Maybe your is doing the same with some coral.

 

it happened to my pair of clowns too at some point few months back, but after a short while, everything disappeared and now they are clear of black spots again.. dont' think it's a big concern

 

some clowns can actually get sun burnt if you have high powerd light but then the spots would only be on the upper parts of their body.

otherwise it sounds like it may be from a coral sting causing damage and resulting in a pigment change, it doesnt sound like it is affecting him so keep and eye and see if they spread or what his behaviour is like

 

If the black spots are the result of hosting a coral, what should I do about this?