The carotenoid compositions of four species of wild anemonefish, Amphiprion ocellaris, A. biacleatus, A. frenatus and A. clarkii, were analyzed. Alltrans-zeaxanthin was found to be a dominant pigment followed by cis-isomers of zeaxanthin in all four species of anemonefish. Astaxanthin was also isolated as a major carotenoid in these species except A. clarkii, in which no astaxanthin was detected. Astaxanthin, however, was isolated from the eggs of A. clarkii. A feeding experiment was conducted using A. ocellaris. It was found that A. ocellaris was able to incorporate the dietary zeaxanthin and astaxanthin into the integuments. Both astaxanthin and zeaxanthin were effective for the pigmentation of A. ocellaris. However, astaxanthin gave a more desirable coloration for A. ocellaris than zeaxanthin.