Provide a 11 pages analysis while answering the following question: Mating amongst the Clownfish and Gender Changes. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. The fish protects the sea anemone from harm that could be caused by hard undigested particles through feeding on them. The fish spawn on the sea anemone. A fully grown dominant female may grow to a total length of 11/2 feet, while the small adult Clownfish may be as small as 4 inches. The fish thrive in the warm waters of the tropics (Maddern 1990 p 36). They are mainly found in the salty waters of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. The excretion from the fish is a major source of nourishment for the sea anemone that absorbs the nutrients emanating from fecal matter. Moreover, the movements of the Clownfish in the water surrounding the sea anemone, especially when fanning the eggs are significant for water circulation, which is significant for the distribution of nutrients for the nourishment of the sea anemone (Drury 2008 p 63).
The Clownfish is covered by a mucous coating around its body which as Wittenrich et al. (2007 p 93) observed are derived from sugars, which is one of the factors that prevent the stinging reaction of the sea anemone as the nematocysts are triggered by the presence of protein-based substances in the surrounding. The fish dwell in one sea anemone as a group, which means that several sea anemones will host different groups of fish (Godwin 1994 p 561). In other words, one sea anemone is the territory of one small group of fish. .
The ability to switch sex is one of the aspects that make the fish unique especially the fact that this can happen to any adult fish. Kawamura & Nakashima (1998 p 126) observe that during hatching, the fish are usually one sex, i. e, all males. The dominant male that becomes larger than all the rest during the adult stage develops into a female. None other develops into a female so long as the dominant female is alive. .The fish that follow in terms of size become the dominant male, while the rest remain small inactive males (Godwin 1994 p 558).
