Clownfish

Clownfish pictures

 Clownfish pictures and Wallpapers

Clownfish pictures

Clownfish pictures

Clownfish pictures

 Clownfish: Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Twenty-eight species are recognized, one in the genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. In the wild they all form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones. Depending on species, clownfish are overall yellow, orange, reddish or blackish, and many show white bars or patches. The largest can reach a length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in), while some barely can reach 10 centimetres (3.9 in).

In popular culture, the film Finding Nemo by Disney/Pixar prominently features clownfish as the main characters.

Clownfish and sea anemones have a symbiotic, mutualistic relationship; each providing a number of things to benefit the other. The individual species are generally highly host specific, and especially the genera Heteractis and Stichodactyla, and the species Entacmaea quadricolor are frequent clownfish partners. The sea anemone protects the clownfish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals. In return, the clownfish defends the anemone from its predators, and cleans it from parasites. The anemone also potentially picks up nutrients from the Clownfish's excrement, and functions as a safe nest site. It has been theorized that the clownfish use their bright colouring to lure small fish to the anemone, and that the activity of the clownfish results in greater water circulation around the sea anemone.[citation needed]

Clownfish and certain damselfish are the only species of fishes that can avoid the potent poison of a sea anemone. There are several theories about how they can survive the sea anemone poison:

    * The mucus coating of the fish may be based on sugars rather than proteins. This would mean that anemones fail to recognize the fish as a potential food source and do not fire their nematocysts, or sting organelles.
    * The coevolution of certain species of clownfish with specific anemone host species and may have acquired an immunity to the nematocysts and toxins of their host anemone. Experimentation has shown that Amphiprion percula may develop resistance to the toxin from Heteractis magnifica, but it is not totally protected, since it was shown experimentally to die when its skin, devoid of mucus, was exposed to the nematocysts of its host.  (source)

Clownfish pictures