Repost 🔃: @scubascribbles Do you know what is happening here? When I saw this tank at the @2oceansaquarium in Cape Town I couldn’t wrap my head around the behavior. I stood and stared. I was horrified. Were these fish dying? Others around me wondered the same thing. It was of course only once I’d read the little plaque above the tank that I understood, no, they were not indeed dying. They were perfectly well thank you very much. Shows you how smart I am. It turns out that clown anemone fish without anemones partake in the strange behavior of rubbing up against other marine species or objects, in this case, sand and rocks, to live in and around and to rub up against. While clown anemone fish live in anemones in the wild to protect themselves from predators, they don’t actually need anemones for their survival. In fact, anemones can stir up stressful competition as the fish attempt to take ownership of them. No anemones keeps the peace. But as @d_carriere our Managing Editor at @scubadivingmag says: Can you even call it an anemonefish if it doesn’t have an anemone? I guess now it’s just a clown fish 🤪 #scubadivingmag #scuba #scubadiving #myoceanaction #adventure #scubadivers #divers #marinelife #fishofinstagram #anenome #clownfish #aquariumfish