Name: Clown Anemonefish (species)
Primary Classification: Acanthopterygii (Spiny-Rayed Fishes)
Location: Northern Queensland to Melanesia.
Habitat: Sea anemones.
Diet: Mainly zooplankton. Possibly algae.
Size: Up to 3.1 inches in length.
Description: Bright orange body with three white, vertical bars bordered in black; middle bar has rounded bulge; 10 dorsal-fin spines;
Cool Facts: It forms a symbiotic relationship with a host anemone; through contact with the anenome's tentacles, it acquires a mucous coat, which protects it from being stung.
Conservation Status: No special status.
With all the Finding Nemo hullabaloo and so on of late, its only ironic that children have become more involved in learning about our sealife. First the movie was released in cinemas then onto dvd, talk of a sequel is rumored to already be in the pixar works and the ocean life are swimming with the tides waiting for their role calls!
Interestingly enough the simple fact that nemo opened children again to the wonderment of our sea life and vast oceans it has also brought on another trend in adult information related tv with more shows appearing about the wonderment of our vast oceans and the life within its tidal beings.
As our title suggests, is it true, fact not fiction, reality not fantasy, truth not myth that certain sea life are able to change their birth sex into the opposing sex (male to female) as they develope and mature into adults.
The answer is YES, indeed they do have this natural ability and they are the true transexuals of the ocean floors, coral walls, and gogo sand bars between the inner sanctums and beyond of both the artic and the anartic cirlces.
"go priscilla go!"
In reality it is the truth and these wonderful and amazing species of sea life prove to the world that it is possible to be different, yet amazing, beautiful, intelligent and even be able to belong into the world in which you are born, tis a shame some of the more human species haven't had the ability to learn from such simple but spectacular creatures on this earth such as "clownfish"
~ The facts ~
The study began with Species switch sex at a specific size:
Species that automatically change sex do so when they reach nearly three-quarters of their maximum size, neatly proving a cornerstone of evolutionary theory, scientists said.
Dozens of animal species, from types of fish and crustaceans to mollusks and worms, spontaneously change sex as a result of the pressures for survival and reproduction.
In the case of the clownfish, a favorite of aquarium-lovers, the gender bending is taken to extremes — males can not only switch to female, but also increase in size to become the alpha-breeder in their piscatorial group.
Biologists David Allsop and Stuart West of Edinburgh University in Scotland studied 77 sex-changing species, ranging from a tiny shrimp, the Thor manningi, to a 1.5-meter (5-foot) fish called a black grouper.
They found that the creatures swapped gender when they reached 72 percent of maximum size, regardless of mating system, sex-change mechanism and other factors.
"This suggests that there is a fundamental similarity across all animals ... in the underlying forces that select for sex change," they wrote in Thursday's issue of Nature, the British weekly science journal.
Under evolutionary theory, an individual is at most pressure to change gender when there is a serious imbalance between the sexes and it has reached an age and size where it can do the switch successfully and contribute quickly to the gene pool.
~ The Clown Fish Factoids ~
Male clownfish can switch to female and also increase in size to become the alpha-breeder of their group. Scientists at Edinburgh University in Scotland have found that sex-changing animals swap gender when they reach 72 percent of maximum size. Male Today..... Female Tomorrow!