It turns out the fish from Pixar's Finding Nemo are pretty hard to find — and costly, too. However, researchers at the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) are looking to change that. They're doing it by developing a method for effectively breeding these beautiful aquatic species.
Clownfish and blue tang are among the most sought-after saltwater fish for aquarium owners. This is likely due in no small part to the fact that they're the two breeds of the main characters in the Finding Nemo films. But acquiring these fish is expensive for the buyer and tricky for the seller because they must be taken from the wild.
Breeding these fish — and many other popular saltwater species — is notoriously difficult, thanks to their unique needs: The zooplankton they eat are difficult to grow, and different types of zooplankton are required as the fish continue to develop.
However, UF/IFAS researchers are finding success in their plans to breed clownfish, blue tangs, and many others. Two research groups have successfully bred blue tangs (the same breed as Finding Nemo's Dory) within two weeks of one another.
Solving this aquatic riddle can be a tremendous boon to the country's ornamental fish market, which had an estimated value of $1.68 billion in 2024, per Grand View Research. That number is expected to grow significantly. However, UF/IFAS researchers still have their work cut out for them.
"It's very labor- and cost-intensive, which is why it's important we do this research for the industry to create a blueprint," Matthew DiMaggio, director of the UF/IFAS Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory in Ruskin, said.
This research will not only benefit the economy — it can also work to protect our beautiful oceans and leave their delicate ecosystems intact. On top of that, it can benefit the many aquariums around the country that do incredible conservational and educational work.
"We don't know how wild harvest affects these reefs," DiMaggio said. "So, finding ways to raise sought-after marine fish species can contribute to conservation, as well as job creation and economic stimulation."
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