Hi, explorers! Today, we're jumping in headfirst and heading below the surface to explore the marine life here in Taiwan! Much like Hawaii, Taiwan has lots of coral reefs around the island, especially in the south where the water is warm year-round. Coral reefs are crucial to many ecosystems because they are home to about 25% of all marine species in the world! Recently, I learned how to scuba dive so that I could spend more time underwater exploring the reefs and seeing what kind of plants, corals, fish, and other animals live there. Although up to 1500 different fish species can be seen around Taiwan's reefs, I recently found a very funny little friend: a clownfish!
Each species of clownfish looks a little bit different, but one of the most commonly known species is the ocillaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). They are bright orange with three white stripes and a thin line of black around each stripe. These fish are pretty small and only grow to be 2-4 inches long. However, there are other species of clownfish found in Taiwan that are bigger, like the tomato clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus). This species doesn't look much like the fish from Finding Nemo at all! They are more reddish-orange (like a tomato) and only have one white stripe near their head.
