Study reveals clownfish, the star
Disney fish, and their sea anemone homes are at risk
Date: May 25, 2016
Source: University of Delaware
Clownfish became a household name
over a decade ago when Disney released the movie "Finding Nemo."
Found exclusively in the
Indo-Pacific, clownfish are symbiotic animals that only live in sea anemones, a
close relative of corals that don't have a hard outer shell. The anemone
provides a home and protection for the clownfish, while the clownfish provides
food for the anemone.
As global concern grows for
Australia's Great Barrier Reef -- which is experiencing the worst bleaching
event in its history due to sustained high ocean temperatures amid a strong El
Nino weather pattern -- University of Delaware researcher Danielle Dixson has
co-authored a paper demonstrating how vulnerable clownfish are to the increased
frequency of bleaching events.
Published today
in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences and
co-authored with Anna Scott, a researcher at Southern Cross University in
Australia, the paper illustrates that while clownfish can identify -- through
smell alone -- if their potential home is bleached or healthy, they are inflexible
in selecting a habitat.
"Unfortunately, our research
has shown that bleaching does not break the symbiotic relationship between the
anemone and clownfish. Clownfish are so behaviorally linked to one or a few
particular anemone species for a home, that it limits their ability to
acclimate if an entire reef bleaches," explained Dixson, an assistant
professor of marine science and policy in UD's College of Earth, Ocean, and
Environment.
"This means that clownfish
are setting themselves up for bigger risk because we know that fish that go to
bleached coral or anemones have an increased predation risk."
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