Nemo Sniffs His Way Home

[n2doc]

Jessica Marshall, Discovery News


Aug. 29, 2008 -- Tiny orange clownfish, made famous by the Disney character Nemo, use the smell of leaves and anemones in the water to find their way home on the coral reef.

That's the finding of a new study using a clever apparatus to measure the fishes' preference for water carrying different odors.

A team led by Geoffrey Jones of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia surveyed waters around Papua New Guinea for clownfish populations.

"The boat captain said, 'If you want to find the orange clownfish, you have to find islands. The fish need to see trees,'" said study lead author Danielle Dixson. The survey confirmed this observation: "There's a huge statistical difference between where there are islands and where there are not islands."
more:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/29/nemo-clownfish-smell.html