<p>The clownfish, the colourful swimmer propelled to fame by the 2003 film "Finding Nemo", is under threat from warming ocean waters wreaking havoc with sea anemones -- the structures which serve as its home, a study has found.<br /><br />Closely related to corals, sea anemones are invertebrate marine creatures that live in symbiosis with algae, which provide them with food, oxygen and colour.<br /><br />Clownfish, also known as anemonefish, in turn use the structures as shelter to lay their eggs and raise their young -- keeping the anemones clean in return.<br /><br />For the study, published yesterday in the journal Nature Communications, a research team monitored 13 pairs of orange- fin anemonefish living among the coral reefs of Moorea Island in the South Pacific.<br /><br />They were monitored before, during and after the El Nino weather event that in 2016 caused major coral bleaching as the Pacific Ocean warmed.<br /><br />Half of the anemones in the study "bleached", expelling the algae that live on them and turning bone white, the team found.<br /><br />This happens in response to environmental stress, such as ocean warming or pollution.<br /><br />"Among the clownfish living in the bleached anemones, the scientists observed a drastic fall (-73 per cent) in the number of viable eggs," said a statement from France's CNRS research institute.<br /><br />"These fish were laying eggs less frequently and they were also laying fewer and less-viable eggs."<br /><br />No changes were observed among fish with unbleached abodes.<br /><br />Blood samples showed a sharp increase in levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the affected fish, and a "significant drop" in sex hormones that determine fertility, the team reported.<br /><br />The health of the anemones and the fish improved three to four months after the end of the warming event.<br /><br />Further research is needed, the team said, to examine the effects of a longer, or more intense, warming period, and whether affected fish would deal better or worse with a new bleaching episode.<br /><br />Exceptional ocean warming events are predicted to become more frequent as the average global temperature rises.<br /><br />Nearly 200 nations agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over industrial levels.<br /><br />A level of about 1 C has already been reached and scientists fear the ceiling will be shattered, with potentially disastrous consequences for the Earth's climate.<br /><br />In June last year, a study said many of the real-life Nemos swimming in children's fish tanks around the world were caught using cyanide -- another threat to the species.<br /><br />"Finding Nemo", the movie about the quest of a young fish separated from its family, resulted in more than a million clownfish being harvested from tropical reefs as pets<br /></p>
<p>The clownfish, the colourful swimmer propelled to fame by the 2003 film "Finding Nemo", is under threat from warming ocean waters wreaking havoc with sea anemones -- the structures which serve as its home, a study has found.<br /><br />Closely related to corals, sea anemones are invertebrate marine creatures that live in symbiosis with algae, which provide them with food, oxygen and colour.<br /><br />Clownfish, also known as anemonefish, in turn use the structures as shelter to lay their eggs and raise their young -- keeping the anemones clean in return.<br /><br />For the study, published yesterday in the journal Nature Communications, a research team monitored 13 pairs of orange- fin anemonefish living among the coral reefs of Moorea Island in the South Pacific.<br /><br />They were monitored before, during and after the El Nino weather event that in 2016 caused major coral bleaching as the Pacific Ocean warmed.<br /><br />Half of the anemones in the study "bleached", expelling the algae that live on them and turning bone white, the team found.<br /><br />This happens in response to environmental stress, such as ocean warming or pollution.<br /><br />"Among the clownfish living in the bleached anemones, the scientists observed a drastic fall (-73 per cent) in the number of viable eggs," said a statement from France's CNRS research institute.<br /><br />"These fish were laying eggs less frequently and they were also laying fewer and less-viable eggs."<br /><br />No changes were observed among fish with unbleached abodes.<br /><br />Blood samples showed a sharp increase in levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the affected fish, and a "significant drop" in sex hormones that determine fertility, the team reported.<br /><br />The health of the anemones and the fish improved three to four months after the end of the warming event.<br /><br />Further research is needed, the team said, to examine the effects of a longer, or more intense, warming period, and whether affected fish would deal better or worse with a new bleaching episode.<br /><br />Exceptional ocean warming events are predicted to become more frequent as the average global temperature rises.<br /><br />Nearly 200 nations agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over industrial levels.<br /><br />A level of about 1 C has already been reached and scientists fear the ceiling will be shattered, with potentially disastrous consequences for the Earth's climate.<br /><br />In June last year, a study said many of the real-life Nemos swimming in children's fish tanks around the world were caught using cyanide -- another threat to the species.<br /><br />"Finding Nemo", the movie about the quest of a young fish separated from its family, resulted in more than a million clownfish being harvested from tropical reefs as pets<br /></p>