Thanks to the Disney/Pixar movie Finding Nemo, virtually everyone has heard of the clownfish. Jonathan travels the Pacific to investigate the behavior of real clownfish. Even though they don’t actually talk in real life, they are beautiful and fascinating fish to observe.
JONATHAN BIRD'S BLUE WORLD is an Emmy Award-winning underwater science/adventure program that airs on public television in the United States.
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In the film Finding Nemo, an anemonefish plays the starring role. In real life, these little fish are a lot different from their Hollywood portrayal—I mean other than the fact that they don’t actually talk. But you may find these colorful little fish quite surprising. Join me on a dive to meet some real anemonefish!
Anemonefish are found all over the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are quite common on coral reefs, so it wont take me too long to find one. Searching a reef on the Pacific Island of Yap, I soon come across a pair of Orange-fin Anemonefish, frolicking in an anemone that looks like a shag carpet.
They are not afraid of me at all. I can swim right up and look them in the eye.
There are 28 different species of anemonefish—all of which are very colorful, but the Clown anemonefish (sometimes called the clownfish) is probably the most beautiful. This is the species that was the basis for the character in Finding Nemo.
Anemonefish get their name because they live in a toxic anemone. This lush carpet has venomous tentacles that sting most fish. But the anemonefish is covered in a special slimy mucous that keeps the anemone from stinging it. Because of this adaptation, the anemonefish can live, protected by the anemone, happily playing in the very tentacles that would kill other fish.
Anemonefish are not the only animals that can live in the anemone. Cleaner shrimps hide here as well. They eat by cleaning the parasites from the fish, and in exchange for their services, the fish graciously don’t eat the shrimp. But it’s hard to relax when you are batted around by hyperactive anemonefish all day long!
The protection afforded by the anemone is the reason why the anemonefish aren’t afraid of me. They know that the anemone’s stinging tentacles keep them safe.
If another fish like this damselfish comes near the anemone, the anemonefish become territorial, and chase it away. They protect their anemone just as much as the anemone protects them, so it’s a good relationship.
And if a fish gets too close, the anemone gets a meal—using its venomous tentacles to sting and disable the fish. This fish is lunch.
The anemone might look like some kind of weird plant, but it’s actually a simple animal with a mouth in the middle. It’s basically a jellyfish that can’t swim.
The anemone is a formidable allay to the anemonefish in more ways than one. They use the protection of the anemone to keep their eggs safe too.
The female anemonefish deposits her eggs on the reef, under the edge of the anemone. Then her subservient males take over. The males provide all the egg care. The female just sits back and watches.
In any group of anemonefish, there is always one anemonefish which is the largest. This is the dominant female. In anemonefish society, the females are the boss.
One of the most interesting things about anemonefish is that they are all born male, but as they mature, some will completely transform into females!
Only when the dominant female dies will the next male in line get the chance to transform into a female and become the head honcho.
Until then, all the smaller anemonefish in the anemone are subservient males.
Truth is stranger than fiction as it turns out, and as my dive comes to an end, I realize that anemonefish are even more fascinating than Hollywood would have us believe. The animals of the ocean truly are remarkable.
