Page 102 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep

A HOME

WITH A STING

CLOWNFISH

Some animals do strange things to stay safe on an
ocean reef filled with predators. For a clownfish family
this means snuggling down among the tentacles of an
anemone. The tentacles have stingers, but a clownfish is
not bothered by them and never swims very far from their
reach. In fact, both anemone and clownfish benefit from
living together. The clownfish is protected from bigger
predators that stay away because they can get stung, and
the anemone gets the odd morsel of food dropped when
the clownfish grabs a meal from the floating plankton.

AT A GLANCE

• SIZE 2–5 in (5–13 cm)
• HABITAT On tropical coral reefs,
in and around sea anemones
• LOCATION Coastal waters of
eastern Indian Ocean and western
Pacific Ocean
• DIET Plankton and dead scraps

STATS AND FACTS

SLIME THICKNESS
14
up to ⁄1,000 mm (on fish found with anemones) Clownfish skin is slimier
than the skin of other
fish—which may stop
4
up to ⁄1,000 mm
the anemone from
(on fish not found with anemones)
firing its stings.
DISTANCE TRAVELED
AN ODD FAMILY
ft 4 8 12
The home life of a clownfish
TIME SPENT AS LARVAE is centered in an anemone,
m 2 4
9¾ ft/3 m (max. from and involves some very odd
sea anemone) 8-12 ground rules. When a leading
DAYS female dies, a male turns into
a female to take her place.
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