The bright colors of coral reef fish have attracted great attention from scientists. And among the most and best studied clown fishhaving distinctive patterns of white bars or stripes, living on host anemones. And They fiercely defend their homes against intruders. Can it be said that the clown fish knows mathematics? In a way because A group of scientists discovered that other congeners “count” their stripes to determine whether they are friends or foes..
28 species described ‘Nemo’ fish Their presence of 0 to 3 white bars on their bodies (from the movie ‘Finding Nemo’) has led researchers to think that they may be important in distinguishing themselves from each other when they meet.
The investigation revealed that patterns emerged. Amphiprion ocellaris (common clownfish, a species displaying three white bars) born and bred in aquariums, encounters an intruding fish, They attack their own species more often than others.
Moreover, It has been clearly proven that this species is able to distinguish patterns containing different numbers of bars.. 120 people for this Amphiprion ocellaris Four different models (without rods and with 1, 2 and 3 rods) are offered and frequency of aggressive behavior It varies depending on the number of bars depending on the model.
The frequency of aggressive behavior towards the 3-stripe model was the same as the frequency of aggressive behavior towards the 3-stripe model. Amphiprion ocellaris It was alive and bigger than any of the other models. Result: Specimens of this species use the number of white bars as a signal to identify and attack only rivals that can use the same host..
“We think this is an important behavior for effective host defense,” the researchers emphasized. Because Clownfish may share a “nest” with specimens of other species. But with yours it’s almost nothing.
““Clown fish knows how to count”
So how does the anemone fish distinguish members of its own species from other striped fish? Can the anemone fish count the number of white bands on the body of other fish to distinguish friends from enemies? A team of Japanese scientists recently published in the ‘Journal of Experimental Biology’ believe they discovered that: ““Clown fish knows how to count”.
Researchers came to this surprising conclusion after raising a flock of young Nemo from eggs to make sure the fish never saw other “relatives” of their species.
When the little ones turned 6 months old, they recorded it on video. reactions to other clownfish speciesincluding the yellowtail clownfish (Amphiprion clarkii), angel clownfish (Amphiprion sandaracinos) and saddled clownfish (Amphiprion polymnus), together intruders of their own kindto see how they react.
The records leave no room for doubt: Common clownfish confronted 80% of conspecific specimens for up to 3 seconds and even sustained an 11-second encounter with them.. On the contrary, intruders from other species had it much easier: The angelic clownfish, which has no sidebars and a white stripe along its back, emerged unharmed, while the two- and three-white-barred Clarke and saddled yellowtail fish, respectively, were slightly spooked..
Good morning my baby. So it turns out that clownfish attack their own species more often, so how do they distinguish them? To find out, the team isolated small schools of juvenile clownfish (three samples) in separate tanks and filmed their reactions. painted models One, two or three white bands count how often the fish bites and chases away the annoying intruder.
What remained was this: The young clownfish did not pay much attention to specimens that appeared to be the striped species; They only occasionally nibbled and chased the ones with one stripe, and harassed the ones with two stripes.. But if increased pressure on three-lane models; They did not like sharing the same space with strangers who looked like them.
Drive competitors away
The report’s authors suggest that clownfish’s dislike of two-barred fish may be related to their development. The common clownfish initially develops two white stripes at the age of 11 days and acquires a third three days later. They suspect that common clownfish growing up with other juveniles of the same species may view the two-whitebarred fish as chase rivals.
Then, Young clownfish living in anemones can distinguish threatening species from species that do not depend on the number of white bars on the fish’s sides.The authors conclude:
“This allows them to defend their abodes against intruders who may try to evict them, while allowing them to pay less attention to fish of other species that are not as interested in settling in anemone dwellings.”
Reference report: https://journals.biologist.com/jeb/article-abstract/227/2/jeb246357/342628/Counting-Nemo-anemonefish-Amphiprion-ocellaris
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