Fish
Clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris
Harmless🌊 1–15 m📏 up to 11 cmIUCN status: Least concern
Immune to the venom of the anemone that hosts it, it spends its entire life in one spot, and can literally change sex if the group's female disappears.
🗺️ Geographic range
Coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific, from Southeast Asia to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
📊 Population
Not threatened and widespread across Indo-Pacific reefs (IUCN, least concern).
Habitat
- Pacific Ocean · Coral reef · Epipelagic zone · Permanent
Behaviour
- Diet
- Small invertebrates, algae, and leftovers from prey caught by the host anemone.
- Hunting
- Rarely hunts: mostly lives off the resources brought by life around its anemone.
- Reproduction
- The dominant female lays her eggs at the base of the anemone; the male guards them until hatching.
Physiology
- Anatomy
- A specific mucus layer protects it from the anemone's stinging cells.
- Adaptations
- Sequential hermaphroditism: all born male, able to become female if needed.
🔗 Web of marine life
Partners
⚡ Its extraordinary abilities
- Immune to the anemone's stinging tentacles thanks to a protective mucus
- Sequential hermaphroditism: born male, can become the dominant female
If you cross paths with this animal…
Risk: No danger to humans.
Behaviour: Territorial around its anemone; may nip at a diver who gets too close, with no consequence.
Advice: Never touch the host anemone — a fragile ecosystem in balance.
💡 Did you know?
- Made globally famous by the film Finding Nemo.
- The whole group is organised around a single dominant female: if she disappears, the dominant male becomes female.