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The bigger the sea anemone, the bigger Nemo: A new study shows that clownfish grow faster when they live with a large anemone. But the mutual symbiosis remains mysterious.
There is no Nemo without his anemone: the two sea creatures live in a mutual relationship. What was not known until now: The colored clownfish grow faster with large anemones than with small ones.
Researchers from the Universities of Newcastle and Boston have now provided experimental evidence of this for the first time in a new study.
The exact cause remains unclear
“Our experiment shows that the fish actively regulate their growth to adapt to their anemone host,” says Theresa Rueger, lead author of the study, in a press release.
The researchers assume that certain secretions from the anemone and the available space cause the fish to grow at different speeds. Because the experiments alone can rule out the availability of food and space as the cause. But the exact mechanism behind the phenomenon remains unclear.
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