Back To Wild

The much glorified Nemo, an orange clownfish made famous by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, has been cited to sniff its way home. A recent study claims that this fish uses water odors to identify its home. Geoffrey Jones from James Cook University in Townsville, Australia surveyed the water bodies next to Papua New Guinea for clownfish breeding.

Researchers also revealed that the sea anemones, which the regions clownfish called their “home”, were mostly found around islands and beaches with numerous trees rather than around islands only with coral reefs.

Researchers found that the fish have to make great efforts in finding their anemone. It so happens because when the eggs get hatched near their parents’ anemone, the larvae gets swayed away by the ocean currents. As a result, the fish have to find new anemone to survive.

Researchers conducted this survey with the help of chambers – with 2 open sources of water and with a wall on top that separated the portion from the waters. Towards the lower end, there was no wall but the waters were left unmixed with two different kinds of water flowing in. Researchers then put the clownfish into the water to detect their preference for the kind of water odor.

At the start, researchers compared beach water (vegetated islands) with reef water. It was found that the fish preferred beach water as compared to the reef water and stayed on that side of the chamber almost 99% of the time.

The next endeavor of the researchers was to find out as to why clownfish prefer beach water as against other kinds of water. As earlier researchers had revealed that clownfish remain attracted to the chemical cues of anemones, this survey revealed that clownfish preferred water that was exposed to anemones as against those which were not exposed to the same.

However, what made the researchers even more curious was the fact that since the anemones couldn’t reach out to the fishes and that the fish had to do so, there could have been other cues that actually led the fishes to the islands.

Researchers found that the islands were flocked with trees and the water was covered with different kinds of leaves. The team then studied the preference of the fishes with the different kinds of leaves scattered on the surface of the ocean water. It was found that the clownfish were attracted to all of them.

In addition, the team also found that the clownfish were less or not attracted to the tea tree plants near the swamps thereby assuming that the fish also had their choice for the “right” kinds of trees.

According to researchers this quality of sniffing water bodies to identify their homes is an innate property of the clownfish. For the same, the team of researchers also studied the fish that were artificial sea water in an aquarium. It was found that they too responded to beach water, leaves and anemone as other ocean clownfish did.

Researchers find it very interesting that a living creature actually smells water to identify or reach home. Imagine human beings, they’ve never been cited for doing till late at least. Researchers also opine that it could probably be the leaves that stay scattered on the ocean surface near the islands that may be drawing the fishes closer to find their abode or anemone.

Researchers clearly identify this as a culmination of the terrestrial and marine life where one exists with the need for the other. Also, if you try protecting the reefs, you are actually not protecting the shorelines that call these Nemo’s home.

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