Clownfish Count Other Fishs’ Stripes To Distinguish Friend From Foe
The mathematical abilities and intelligence of anemonefish may have been greatly underestimated
Several anemonefish or clownfish share one anemone, with the largest fish being a female. This is a trio of common clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris. Dauin, Philippines. (Credit: Klaus Stiefel / CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED)
When the Pixar cartoon film, Finding Nemo, came out in 2003, it was a sensation, and suggested to the audience that its colorful stars were kind and peaceful creatures. Except they aren’t: they actually are feisty little fish that vigorously compete for and enthusiastically defend their anemone homes from others of their own kind. Which raises the question: how do anemonefish distinguish members of their own species from other striped fishes living in the neighborhood?
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