While everyone must know Clown Anemonefish from the Disney Movie Finding Nemo their lifestyle is nothing like the movie and no lucky fin.
They do however have an interesting symbiotic lifestyle with the anemone and there are benefits to both for them. The anemone protects the fish from predators and the fish picks off parasites and also protects its host anemone, they can really be quite feisty when provoked, they also get to eat any leftover food from the anemone which helps keep it clean and free from disease.
There are a number of theories why the anemone doesn't sting the fish some revolve around the mucus coating the fish has while others go down the route of a built-up immunity over time to a specific anemone toxin.
You will normally find them living in small groups in an anemone lead by a dominant aggressive female with a larger male who she will mate with and one or more smaller males, a pair and some spare ;) In the event that the female dies the lead male will change sex and become the dominant female and one of the smaller males will become the mate. True transgender of the fishy kind.
There are quite a few other species of anemonefish than the classic Finding Nemo one which is the Clown Anemonefish. Some of the more common ones are:-
Tomato Anemonefish
Skunk Anemonefish
Two Band Anemonefish
They really are quite common in tropical regions but every now and then one you will see one that will really stand out. In this case, a pair of very photogenic Clown Anemonefish in a white anemone. It is at about 12m on the reef at Talasy wall at one of the Moalboal dive sites.
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I hope all of you Hivers enjoyed this little Walk on the Wild side with Nemo.