New studies are also looking into the effects of Ocean Acidification on Clown Fish navigation as new evidence suggests this might be affecting the delicate calcium carbonate structure within the inner ear, making it even more difficult for Clown Fish to find their way home. New studies suggest that ocean acidification could be affecting the delicate calcium carbonate structure inside the inner ears of Clownfish, making it harder for them to hear or identify healthy reefs, making it even more difficult to for nemo to find his way home.
Clownfish rely on this sound to find their way back to the reef after spending their first few weeks out in the open ocean.įinding a healthy sounding reef is one thing, but there's another obstacle for Clownfish - climate change. Where there is less biodiversity there are fewer clicks and chirps echoing from the reef, its sound is much quieter.Ĭlownfish, who always start out their lives as males, use these different sounds to their advantage to find a new home from the open ocean they homes in on the healthier sounds and avoids reefs that sound like they contain too many natural predators. Fish and invertebrates produce a unique soundscape of clicks, snaps and grunts simply by carrying out their daily duties. All that noise on the reef is useful to the Clownfish trying to find their way back to the reef from the open ocean.
#The great barrier reef free
They hatch only at night, and once the little larvae are set free they're on their own, spending the first weeks of their life developing in the open ocean before embarking on an epic journey to return home.īut after drifting so far out to sea, how do the young clownfish find their way home? It's under the protective shield of these venomous tentacles that a female Clownfish really benefits from this partnership she lays up to a thousand eggs on the rocks beneath her anemone home! After only a week inside the safety of their egg cases, the young are ready to emerge. By way of payment, the clown fish eat the anemone's parasites and scraps of leftover food, keeping it clean and healthy in the process. They can then live within this venomous haven, safe from predators. But a protective layer of mucus gives the Clownfish immunity to the toxins. Their harmless looking tentacles are actually packed with stinging cells called nematocysts that will inject a painful toxin into any creature that ventures too close. For the clownfish and the anemone, cooperation is the key to their success. To get on in this competitive world, Clownfish have formed a special symbiotic relationship with a surprising animal a sea anemone. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most crowded ecosystems on the planet, survival here takes great innovation and sometimes, collaboration.
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