Good luck finding Nemo.
The National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are considering adding the orange clownfish to the endangered species list as coral reefs remain besieged by climate change. Threats including ocean acidification and warming temperatures, as well as overfishing by the aquarium industry, have ravaged populations of Pixar's favorite orange fish.
The agencies are now seeking public comment as to whether these and seven other species of reef fish should be subject to the country's highest form of wildlife protection.
So we wanted to send a shout out to all those, albeit few, remaining orange clownfish; different from some other species of clownfish and differentiated by their three white lines and fins tipped in black, like this:
The little guys make their homes in certain types of sea anemones and work in a symbiotic relationship, living among the stinging polyps in exchange for keeping them clean and helping the anemones breathe.
The clownfish spend nearly their entire lives living with the anemone, and shortly after hatching from their eggs they go on the hunt for an anemone of their own, slowly growing accustomed to the stings that would normally kill other fish before settling in.
But coral reefs, home to many anemones, are particularly vulnerable to ocean warming and acidification, especially in the coral triangle, which has served as a "hot spot" of increased oceanic temperatures. Which means these cute orange fish may not be able to find any homes in the near future.
The proposal to list orange clownfish as endangered also points to the marine aquarium trade, which imported around 200,000 of the fish to the U.S. in 2005, one of the busiest years spurred by the release of 2003's "Finding Nemo." In aquariums, clownfish have an average lifespan of 3 to 6 years, but females can reach into their 30s in the wild.
So let's save these guys and keep them in their natural environment, or else we may have to say goodbye to Nemo once and for all.
The National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are considering adding the orange clownfish to the endangered species list as coral reefs remain besieged by climate change. Threats including ocean acidification and warming temperatures, as well as overfishing by the aquarium industry, have ravaged populations of Pixar's favorite orange fish.
The agencies are now seeking public comment as to whether these and seven other species of reef fish should be subject to the country's highest form of wildlife protection.
So we wanted to send a shout out to all those, albeit few, remaining orange clownfish; different from some other species of clownfish and differentiated by their three white lines and fins tipped in black, like this:
The little guys make their homes in certain types of sea anemones and work in a symbiotic relationship, living among the stinging polyps in exchange for keeping them clean and helping the anemones breathe.
The clownfish spend nearly their entire lives living with the anemone, and shortly after hatching from their eggs they go on the hunt for an anemone of their own, slowly growing accustomed to the stings that would normally kill other fish before settling in.
But coral reefs, home to many anemones, are particularly vulnerable to ocean warming and acidification, especially in the coral triangle, which has served as a "hot spot" of increased oceanic temperatures. Which means these cute orange fish may not be able to find any homes in the near future.
The proposal to list orange clownfish as endangered also points to the marine aquarium trade, which imported around 200,000 of the fish to the U.S. in 2005, one of the busiest years spurred by the release of 2003's "Finding Nemo." In aquariums, clownfish have an average lifespan of 3 to 6 years, but females can reach into their 30s in the wild.
So let's save these guys and keep them in their natural environment, or else we may have to say goodbye to Nemo once and for all.
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