Students please use this thread for questions

[NJDragonet]

Hello, currently I am teaching students about marine bio and if they had any questions they would love to chat with experts on R2R


Thanks, NJ

 

[TSPleco240]

How does the salinity level of the water affect fish, corals, and inverts? How come they are unable to maintain homeostasis in salinities that are too low or high?

 

[TSPleco240]

Also, I have heard of clownfish changing their sexes sometimes. Why does this happen? How does it work?

 

[gabrielw94106]

Hello, currently I am teaching students about marine bio and if they had any questions they would love to chat with experts on R2R


Thanks, NJ

Ill save this thread for when I need help with marine bio

 

[ScubaFish802]

@ReefSquad

 

[Miguel Negron]

Interesting!

 

[Bleigh]

Also, I have heard of clownfish changing their sexes sometimes. Why does this happen? How does it work?

Many fish change sexes.

Clownfish are all born male. Then they pair up and they fight it out. Either one submits to the other and stays male and the more dominant one becomes female, or one kills the other. It is hard to keep more than 2 clownfish in a tank because they will fight. If a male is left alone, it will eventually become a female. The female grows much larger than the male. If the female dies, the male will become female.

Anthias are another fish that change sex. The most dominant fish becomes male and grows larger than his harem.

Chalk bass change sex multiple times a day. They both take turns laying eggs and fertilizing those eggs. They have relatively short life spans, so this allows them to produce more offspring.

 

[ThRoewer]

Many fish change sexes.

Clownfish are all born male. ... If a male is left alone, it will eventually become a female. ...

I don't think this is actually true but rather a widespread misconception. Fricke did some experiments on A. bicinctus and found that the sex change requires a dominant and submissive. A single male would not change sex.

 

[ThRoewer]

How does the salinity level of the water affect fish, corals, and inverts? How come they are unable to maintain homeostasis in salinities that are too low or high?

Many reef fish can live in a relatively wide range of salinities because they osmoregulate to maintain their internal salinity (which is the same as ours). They usually handle lower salinities better than higher but I had the specific gravity in tanks going as high as 1.045 and none of the fish showed any discomfort. On the other end of the spectrum most fish handle a specific gravity as low as 1.008 just fine. This is used for Hyposalinity treatments against certain parasites.
Corals are less flexible but can also tolerate some salinity variation as long as it comes slowly and they have time to adjust.

 

[Hincapiej4]

AWWW THIS IS SUCH A WHOLESOME THREAD! I LIKE!