Clownfish, the orange-, black-
and white-striped fish made famous in the movie "Finding Nemo," are a
gossipy bunch, popping and clicking amid their anemone homes to defend and
reinforce their social status, according to new research.
Unlike the 360 other species
of territorial marine fish in the Pomacentridae family,clownfish don't
make a peep when mating. Researchers wondering why clownfish would bother to
make noise in other circumstances discovered that their chatter helps maintain
the rank and file among group members.
"Sound could be an
interesting strategy for preventing conflict between group members," lead
study author Orphal Colleye, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Liège,
Belgium, told LiveScience. "In terms of cost energy, you don't have to
interact with another individual to determine which is the dominant and which
is the subordinate, you just need to make a sound."
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