#FINDING NEMO FISH TYPES SKIN#

Despite having a single cloaca, sharks have two uteruses. The only prey around are their own siblings. Sand Tiger Sharks are capable of being pregnant with 12 developing embryos at one time! But all that quickly changes in embryophagous sharks when one of the embryos develops faster than the others and gets hungry. As with most vertebrates, female sharks release more than one egg at a time, therefore allowing for more than one embryo to develop simultaneously in each uterus. (Cooney modified image) What is so special about female shark reproductive anatomy?įemale sharks have one cloaca and vagina that bifurcates into two uteruses. Looks like animators gave Chum more hardware than just a hook in his snout. Only Chum has claspers…perhaps this is another opportunity for a plot twist: Bruce and Anchor are actually female sharks with deep voices! Bruce and Anchor lack claspers. Almost all other fishes lack clasper-like appendages and are therefore relegated to external fertilization.Ĭonsidering the importance of these sexual appendages for male sharks, it seems odd that the animators of Finding Nemo ended up “neutering” Bruce and Anchor.

These appendages provide sharks (and skates and rays) the capability for intercourse and internal fertilization. Male sharks have two penis like appendages called claspers. Sharks are one of the few groups of fish that internally fertilize eggs and give live birth, which is why embryophagy* has only been documented in sharks! What is special about male sharks that make them capable of internally fertilizing female sharks? A male shark, left, with claspers, and a female shark with no claspers. Sharks are an unusual grouping of fish in many ways and their reproductive anatomy is always a great place to start when exploring shark oddities like fetal cannibalism. How can a shark even be in the “womb”? I thought fish spawned externally? Now, back to Bruce and Chum eating their siblings. Interestingly, if Anchor was a female, she could be an exact clone of her mother through asexual reproduction! Hammerhead sharks are not known to eat their siblings in utero. On the other hand, Anchor, a Hammerhead Shark, is “off the hook”. Both of these sharks, along with 12 other known species, are characterized by attacking and cannibalizing their own siblings while in utero. (Cooney modified image)īruce is a “ Great” White Shark and Chum is a Mako Shark. The change is irreversible.Bruce shares his dirty secret. They have the ability to switch their sex, but will do so only to become the dominant female of a group. Surprisingly, all clownfish are born male. They are not found in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, or Atlantic Ocean. There are at least 30 known species of clownfish, most of which live in the shallow waters of the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the western Pacific. In exchange for safety from predators and food scraps, the clownfish drives off intruders and preens its host, removing parasites.

#FINDING NEMO FISH TYPES SKIN#

A layer of mucus on the clownfish's skin makes it immune to the fish-eating anemone's lethal sting. Relationship with AnemonesĬlownfish perform an elaborate dance with an anemone before taking up residence, gently touching its tentacles with different parts of their bodies until they are acclimated to their host. They reach about 4.3 inches in length, and are named for the multicolored sea anemone in which they make their homes. Characteristicsīright orange with three distinctive white bars, clown anemonefish are among the most recognizable of all reef-dwellers. True anemonefish, Amphiprion percula, are nearly identical, but have subtle differences in shape and live in different habitats. What they may not know is that the heroes of Finding Nemo are actually called false anemonefish. Anyone with kids and a DVD player probably thinks they know all there is to know about the clownfish, also called the clown anemonefish.

Finding nemo fish types