Warming seas killing clownfish, marine expert says
A marine expert at Kasetsart University in Bangkok has voiced concern that global warming would cause the population of clownfish to dwindle greatly.
Thon Thamrongnawasawat posted on Facebook on Saturday that global warming caused the temperature of seawater to rise too high, which affected or even killed sea anemones. And that in turn affects clownfish, which have a symbiotic relationship with anemones.
The clownfish gets protection from predators within the anemone's tentacles, while helping to keep the anemone clean, and may even attract food to it.
In the post, Thon showed photos of the bleaching of anemones. He said members of the “Friends of Thon” network had sent photos of bleached anemones to him.
The bleaching happens when anemones lose the microscopic algae living inside their tissues, called zooxanthellae.
Thon explained that when the seawater gets too warm, zooxanthellae leave anemones and corals in shallow seas where they live, causing the bleaching.
After the anemones bleached, Thon said, few clownfish could not live inside them.
Without anemones as habitats, clownfish could die or lay fewer eggs and their sizes could be much smaller, Thon added.
He said he hoped rains would come soon to lower the sea temperatures so that anemones could be revived to provide fertile habitats for clownfish.
