article about clownfish migration

[AlanM]

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0918/New-study-reveals-that-Finding-Nemo-could-really-happen-sort-of

 

I'm not understanding how they're clipping the fins of clownfish that are a week old, according to the study.  I would not have expected them to be done with metamorphosis by that point.  But they also say they're less than a cm in size, so maybe they're still larvae? 

 

Anyway, it's interesting that they travel so far on the currents before settling down.

 

 

[lutz123]

I wondered that as well when I first saw the story. Interesting study though.

[DuffyGeos]

I wonder how they get out of the current, or if there is a certain land formation that allows the current to slow and they get "dumped" in that area. The way a delta at the end of a river dumps silt. They can't be that strong at such an early age. Maybe just a slight swim across the current like you are suppose to do with a riptide.

[s2nhle]

Wow, very interesting.

[mogurnda]

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0918/New-study-reveals-that-Finding-Nemo-could-really-happen-sort-of

 

I'm not understanding how they're clipping the fins of clownfish that are a week old, according to the study.  I would not have expected them to be done with metamorphosis by that point.  But they also say they're less than a cm in size, so maybe they're still larvae? 

 

Anyway, it's interesting that they travel so far on the currents before settling down.

This seemed weird, so I read the paper.  They actually did all their experiments with adults.  They caught fish in the northern and southern regions, snipped their fins, and returned them to their homes.  Based on genetic markers, they identified "northern" and "southern" genotypes, and found that some fish had the markers from the other region, and that others had mixed genotypes.  They inferred that the mixing of genotypes occurred because of migration of larvae, which makes sense because adults never leave their anemones.  Further, going north-south appeared to be easier than going the other direction, suggesting that maybe physical features play a role.

 

Cool story.  Thanks for posting.

 

Now I really have to get back to work.