Climate change damage in clown fish homes can adversely affect psychology, according to a new study.
Scientists studied the fate of a clown fish, known from the movie Find Nemo, living in bleach coral reefs.
Extreme coral blooms are caused by extreme heat waves caused by global climate change.
The study found that the fish, also known as anemone fish, which lived in swollen anemones for more than a month, reduced their metabolism, had less growth and they changed their behavior so that they were less active.
The research was led by an international team of scientists from the University of Glasgow and researchers from France, Chile and Denmark, and was carried out at Criobe (Center for Island Research and Environmental Observatory) in Polynesia, France. .
Dr Shaun Killen, of the University of Glasgow’s Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, said: “To date scientists have focused on the direct effects of blowing on corals and the effects of coral mortality. is caused by swelling of the coral reef community.
“However, our findings suggest that even with corals surviving and recovering from a blown event, this will not happen at no cost to the associated communities that structure ecosystems. coral reefs.
“Overall, our findings highlight the severity of wind events and emphasize the need to regulate human actions that contribute to climate change-related events, such as wind.”
For the study, the international team exposed 47 wild juvenile anemone fish to thermally induced anemones, as well as healthy anemones, for several months in the Moorea Lagoon.
The team measured fish behavior, metabolism and growth after one month of living in healthy or bloated white homes.
All measurements were repeated after two months of exposure and the survival of juvenile anemone fish was monitored over nine months.
Suzanne Mills, Associate Professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) PSL Universite Paris, Criobe, France, said: “Although fish in swollen anemones spent more time out of their anemone, they were less active and moved around the smaller anemone, suggesting. inability to adjust their nutritional level to cope with the amount of food available.
“We therefore find that host of swollen anemone reduces the growth of associated fish so is likely to affect the distribution and longevity of individual anemone fish, but also for other co-fish species. associated with bleach hosts. ”
Daphne Cortese, a PhD student with EPHE, Criobe and the University of Glasgow, said: “In food-restricted environments, it can be beneficial to reduce metabolism, but there is a limit to the amount that can be reduced, and we have not done so. do not stop any stability over time.
“This result, combined with reduced growth and altered behavior, indicates that fish in swollen anemones are under energy disadvantage and that the negative effect of anemone blowing on anemone fish over time is rather negative. on the new position. ”
– The study is published in Functional Ecology.