There are many births in the aquariological reserves of Nausicaá!
Clownfish Amphiprion ocellaris live in symbiosis with their anemone. Each anemone contains a female who shelters there with her male partner, as clownfish are known to form pairs.
Clownfish are protandrous hermaphrodites, which means that all clownfish are born male, but the dominant, larger fish becomes female as it ages.
During reproduction, the female lays her eggs on a substrate to which they adhere because they are covered in a sticky substance. The male then comes to fertilise them.
During the ten days or so before the eggs hatch, the male and female each have a clearly defined role: the male aerates the eggs by agitating the water with its fins, thus providing them with oxygen, and it eliminates the eggs that are not viable.
Meanwhile, the female acts as guardian of the home and repels any intruder who tries to approach.
Five days after laying, the larva appears in the egg. The fish are born 10 days after laying and the larvae are carried away by the current. Thirty-five days after birth, the young fish look exactly like adult clownfish.
At Nausicaá, the keepers located the couples, isolated them so that they could reproduce.
Since 1991, Nausicaá's team of biologists has honed its expertise in breeding and reproduction, which helps to preserve the natural environment. Nausicaá's keepers work in the aquariological reserves on cutting coral and rearing jellyfish. They also collect fish eggs from the high seas tank.