Charlie, the Clownfish, and the Sea Anemone's Seven Stings

Did you know clownfish have a happy working relationship with sea anemones? Watch this fascinating National Geographic video to see how clownfish interact and live (and love) the sea anemone’s tentacles. See this article from Aquarium of the Pacific which gives great information. Sea anemones' tentacles sting, and predators avoid the sea anemone because of it. The clownfish play around a sea anemone's tentacles to get used to it. Once the clownfish become immune to the stings, they can live within the sea anemone's tentacles. See the fantastic PBS video where the clownfish can be seen frolicking within the sea anemone tentacles. This is perhaps the best video we have seen as it narrates a host of other amazing facts, which are even more fascinating than its partnership with the sea anemone, like how they change genders from male to female and how the success of Finding Nemo has created an enormous demand for clownfish for aquariums. We wrote about Charlie because we both remembered how awful it was to go to the doctor to get our shots. We hated it and we imagined Charlie would hate it too!

Charlie, a clown anemonefish, refused to get his stings from the sea anemone that his father had chosen for him. “No, I don’t want it!” Charlie said. “It hurts.”

“Charlie,” his father said. “The sea anemone’s sting is the only way to get immunity to its toxin. Once you build immunity, you can live safely in the sea anemone within its tentacles. That’s what I did, what your mother did, and what you must do.”

“No,” Charlie said. “I won’t.”

“Charlie!” his father pleaded. “The sea anemone gives you shelter. In turn, you clean it up and chase away the butterfly fish that would otherwise eat it up.”

“No!” Charlie said. “I will not. Never, never, never!”

“In that case,” his father said, “you better start swimming.”

“Why?”

“There’s a Napoleon wrasse behind you. It’s six feet long and you’re smaller than a teacup.”

Charlie turned. His father was right. That wrasse was a giant if ever there was one. It was blue-green with thick lips with a hump on its forehead. Charlie had never seen a wrasse of this size before, but now was the chance to prove himself. Charlie took off.

“You can’t outswim a wrasse, silly boy!” Charlie’s father said.

“I can!” Charlie said.

“No!” his father said. “You need a sea anemone to protect you!”

“You do NOT need a sea anemone to protect you,” a guttural voice said, right behind Charlie. “I’ll show you how to live without a sea anemone’s stings.”

“NO!” Charlie’s father yelled. “He can’t. He won’t. He’s LYING.”

“Oh, Charlie.” The Napoleon wrasse smiled. “I can see you’ll be delectable! A perfect morsel! A bite-sized delight. Trust me. I'm telling you the truth. Once I eat you, you’ll be a part of me. You'll never have to worry about a sea anemone’s sting again.”

“NO!” Charlie yelled as he took off.

Charlie darted from crevice to nook to rock to reef. There were many spots to hide but he could not get to them.

The wrasse blocked his way.

“DUCK, Charlie!” Charlie’s father yelled.

But Charlie couldn’t find the right spot to duck. The wrasse was close behind. Its huge, thick lips were nearly on Charlie’s tail.

Finally, desperate, unable to find a spot, with the wrasse’s thick lips on his back fin, Charlie dove into the tentacles of a sea anemone.

“DO NOT STING ME!” Charlie said, loudly. He was stung at once. “Ow!” he yelled. “YOU AWFUL THING!” Charlie shot out as he was stung again, and tried another sea anemone. “Ow! Ow!” He tried another. “ARGH!” Another. “AARGH!” One more. “AARGGGHH!”

Finally, he dove into the smallest sea anemone he could find – the one his father had chosen for him. The tentacles closed over him.

Charlie felt the sting but it wasn’t bad.

He looked up at the Napoleon wrasse.

It approached, encircled, then backed away.

“Safe at last!” Charlie said, shivering. “After seven stings.”

“If you had listened,” his father said. “You would have been stung once.”