Clown anemonefish

Biology

The clown anemone fish is coloured orange with three white vertical stripes. Its body is covered in mucus that protects it from the poisonous tentacles of large anemones. This allows it to shelter from predators among the tentacles. In return, the clownfish defends the anemone from its predators and parasites.

Curiosities

Like all clownfishes, this species can experience a change in sex. They are protandric hermaphrodites; that is, they start life as males and if the dominant female dies, one of the male changes sex and takes her place.