, young Nemo takes a dizzying journey from coral reef to captivity and back again. In real life, it’s a different kind of quest: soon after hatching, tiny translucent clownfish larvae swim for 10 to 15 days, traveling up to 35 kilometers through open ocean. It’s the biggest trip they’ll ever take. After this brief excursion, young clownfish develop their iconic orange and white coloring and settle down on an anemone, where they dwell for the rest of their days.
But the fish’s quicker growth could have benefits. Emily Fobert, a marine ecologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia who was not involved in the study, suggests that faster maturing clownfish larvae may spend less time in the open ocean where they are vulnerable to predators. The clownfish that Moore raised in warmer water also had faster metabolisms, which the scientists determined by measuring how much oxygen the clownfish consumed in a tiny swim tunnel. This squares with previous research on older clownfish, as well as Ravasi’s not-yet-published research on juvenile grouper.