I guess the title says it all. If you're looking for Nemo .. Here you go. Nemo is an anemonefish and it was always cute to see. But they became very popular after the release of Finding Nemo by Pixar. But what do we know about Nemo? Yeah, he's cute, .. but here you can find some more facts and pictures. Hope you like it!
Classification
Anemonefish or Clownfish are from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. There are about 30 different species known. The name anemonefish is quite logic because most of them have their home in an anemone. Make sense :)
You can identify which type of anemonefish if you're looking at color, the amount of stripes or bands. Sometimes the difference is very subtile.
In the picture above you can see a pink anemonefish. Typical is the white line on top of his body.
Where does the name come from?
Since the famous Pixar movie, people refer to the anemonefish as Nemo fish. But did you know that Nemo was referring to Captain Nemo, a character from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a novel by Jules Verne?
This cute one is a false anemonefish
Female power
It might be a surprise to you, but the leader of the anemonefish is always a female! In a school of anemonefish there is a strict dominance hierarchy. All anemonefish are born male, and when growing up, they can change to female. This process is called sequential hermaphroditism. If the female leader dies, the most dominant male will transform into a female and become the new leader. Although the leader will always be a female, the males have a very important role in the colony. they protect the eggs.
If you look close to the picture you can see anemone shrimps everywhere.
I'll bite you!
Nemo can be agressive as well. When they protect the eggs and intruders come too close they really defend the nest. It's funny to watch. They are so brave. No matter how big the intruder is, they attack. Sometimes they even bite you :)
Hopefully you liked my pictures. And maybe you learned a bit more about these funny fishes.
See you on the next dive!
All pictures are taken with an Olypmpus E-PL5 or Olympus E-PL6 and a 60mm macro lens in several locations in the Philippines.