Oman Anemonefish

The body of A. omanensis is dark brown and with two white bars and distinctive forked caudal fin, which is blackish in juveniles fading to white in adults. The midbody bar is narrow and does not extend onto the dorsal fin while the headbar is also narrow and usually constricted across the nape They have 10 dorsal spines, 2 anal spines, 10-17 dorsal soft rays and 14-15 anal soft rays. They reach a maximum length of 14 cm (5+1⁄2 in).

A. omanensis is found in Oman in the Arabian Peninsula. Anemone fish are sedentary and depend on ocean currents for dispersal. As A. omanesis is confined within a small range, it was used to study long-distance dispersal, from sites 400 kilometres (250 mi) apart at either end of its range. Adults provide high levels of parental care to their young that hatch with well-developed swimming and sensory capabilities before embarking on a <3 week pelagic larval phase, during which time they may disperse over long distances. The study found an asymmetrical dispersal pattern between the two regions with a higher occurrence of southward dispersal, consistent with the prevailing currents, with immigration rates of 5.4% in the south and 0.7% in the north.