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Clownfish survive heat waves by shrinking, study reveals

Academics from Newcastle, Leeds, and Boston universities tracked 134 clownfish over several months during a marine heatwave in a reef area off the coast of Papua New Guinea between February and August 2023.
The heatwave occurred amid a global mass coral bleaching event and caused heat stress that led clownfish to shrink as a survival response.
About 100 fish shrank, often synchronizing size reductions within breeding pairs to maintain social hierarchies and boost their survival chances.
Shrinking once increased a clownfish's chance of surviving the heatwave by 78%, and none that shrank multiple times died, senior author Dr. Theresa Rueger said.
This discovery suggests adaptive shrinking may explain why many marine fish species are becoming smaller and offers a new coping strategy for warming oceans.

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Smithsonian Mag

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Clownfish Shrink Down Their Bodies to Survive Ocean Heat Waves, New Study Suggests

The adaptation appears to help the fish cope with high temperatures, since individuals and breeding pairs that shrank improved their survival odds

16 hours ago·United States

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Deutschlandfunk

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Marine Ecology - In the Heat Clownfish Become Smaller

According to a study, clown fish begin to shrink in heat waves in the sea, thus improving the survival chances of fish living in the Indo-Pacific coral reefs, as reported by a team of researchers.

17 hours ago·Germany

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CNN

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‘Shrinking Nemo’: Study finds clownfish can shrink to survive higher sea temperatures

Clownfish, a small orange and white species made famous by the “Finding Nemo” movies, have been found to shrink in order to boost their chances of surviving marine heat waves, according to a new study.

20 hours ago·Atlanta, United States

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