Coral reef fish display all sorts of patterns and colours. One of the most recognisable is that of the clownfish – a group of 30 species belonging to two genera, Premnas and Amphiprion. They display an amazing range of variations within their genus, which incorporates over 30 species.
The species display an amazing range of colour and pattern variations, based around the familiar Finding Nemo template. The number of iconic white stripes varies from zero to three, and develop over the lifetime of individual fish, starting at the head and progressing towards the tail.
A new study led by Pauline Salis from France’s Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls-sur-Mer finds that stripe number and colour patterns in different species reflect long-term developmental, ecological and social pressures. The results are also play a key role in in species recognition.
The research is published in the journal BMC Biology.
Originally published by Cosmos as How Nemo got his stripes
Kelly Wong
Kelly Wong is the social media manager at The Royal Institution of Australia. She has a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Allergy and Immunology, Hons Class I.
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