Animals are adapting their bodies and behaviors due to climate change. Recent studies reveal that clownfish, featured in Finding Nemo, can shrink in size when faced with heat stress. Melissa Versteeg, a marine science Ph.D. student, observed that clownfish measured during a heatwave in Papua New Guinea displayed significant size reduction, which enhances their survival chances. This ability to shrink, even marginally, is surprising and suggests potential metabolic advantages, allowing the fish to endure warmer water conditions more effectively than those that grow larger.
"It's usually assumed that growth is relatively one way, so it's favorable to be a bit bigger. And we've not really seen before that they actually have this capacity or ability to shrink."
"When they shrink, it's about one or 2% of their body size. And so really small length reductions of just like between one and two millimeters."
"Something about these shrinking fish was giving them a better opportunity to survive the heat wave compared to the ones that kept growing bigger in size."
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