The Wideband Anemonefish is the only species in its group and one of just a few subtropical species in the genus. Genetic studies place it as the basal lineage among the anemonefishes (exclusive of the clownfishes), suggesting a relatively long and isolated evolutionary history. In a sense, this peculiar species is a relict, a “living fossil” among the anemonefishes. We know essentially nothing about what other species may once have belonged to its lineage, but we can presume that this fish is a survivor of what might have once been a far more diverse clade. Perhaps, during past periods of glaciation, when the earth’s oceans where cooler, there may have been many more subtropical relatives in this group which have since gone extinct.
Amphiprionology 