From a forgetful blue tang to a vegetarian great white shark, Finding Nemo is swimming with unforgettable characters – but did you know most of them are based on real marine species?
Whether it’s a grumpy royal gramma or a wave-riding green sea turtle, the underwater cast is full of ocean creatures that are just as fascinating in real life.
Here’s your guide to the true identities behind Nemo, Dory, Bruce, and the rest of the reef gang.
Sea creatures in Finding Nemo
Nemo and Marlin
Nemo and Marlin are clownfish, specifically an ocellaris clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris). There are 28 species of clownfish, which are also known as anemonefish, due to their coral reef habitats. They live in the protective shroud of an anemone’s tentacles, providing them a safe haven which their predators tend to avoid.
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Clownfish are intriguing for many reasons, not least because of their intriguing reproduction. They are protandrous hermaphrodites, which means they are born male and stay this way until they climb the ranks to change sex to become the female of the group. Climate change is affecting clownfish, which are shrinking to survive heat stress.
Dory
Dory is a blue tang fish (Paracanthurus hepatus), a small fish native to the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific. Their vibrant colouring has made them a target for the aquarium trade, and experts believe that as many as 250,000 are taken from the wild each year.
Bruce
As leader of the Fish-Friendly Sharks support group, Bruce is obviously a shark – but what type of shark is he? Unsurprisingly perhaps, he is a great white shark, common in Australian waters. They are ambush hunters, known for breaching (launching themselves into the air) to catch their prey with their 30,000 teeth, with a bite force of up to 1.8 metric tonnes. Find out whether there are great white sharks in the UK here.
Gill
Gill is a Moorish idol, a fish named after the fishermen of Southeast Asia, who have long admired these striking fish. They are one of the most beautiful fish in the sea, with a thin body, beaklike mouth and an extended dorsal fin.
Deb
Deb is a four-striped damselfish, also known as a blacktail dascyllus. These fish are native to the western Pacific Ocean and are found in the northern Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Like all damselfish, they can be particularly aggressive and territorial.
Crush
He mentions it in the film, but surfer-dude Crush is a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) – as is his son, Squirt. There are seven different types of sea turtle, and the green sea turtle is currently endangered. Baby green turtles face a mammoth journey to return to the sea from their nesting beaches, with many dying along the way.
Mr Ray
The clue’s in the name, but Mr Ray is a specific type of ray – he’s a spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari), named after their distinctive beak-like snout and white spots on their dark backs. Find out how to tell the difference between skates and rays here.
Bloat
Part of the Tank Gang, Bloat is a porcupine (or long-spine) pufferfish (Diodon holocanthus), able to inflate his body into a spiky ball when threatened or in danger. This is an accurate representation of the species, with pufferfish inflating when a predator is close. This has the effect of making them too big to eat, which is advantageous to the species as they are slow swimmers with small fins – so they can’t outstrip their predators with speed. They are one of the world’s most recognisable inflatable animals.
Bubbles
Bubbles is a yellow tang fish (Zebrasoma flavescens) with a neurotic, excitable character. Despite their similar names, the yellow and blue tang fish are quite different. The first part of its Latin name references the zebra-like stripes on the body of the species, while the adjective refers to the tang’s yellow colour.
Peach
Peach is a starfish, although it’s not clear exactly which species. Experts have suggested she could be a sand sifting starfish (Astropecten polyacanthus), because this species is often added to marine aquariums for its ability to clean the sand bed by sifting through it, removing detritus and preventing the build-up of food or other substances.
Pearl
Pearl is an adorable flapjack octopus, a species of umbrella octopus – that is, an octopus with a web of skin between the arms, which give the appearance of an open umbrella when their arms are spread.
Nigel
One of very few land-dwelling creatures featured in Finding Nemo, Nigel is a brown pelican, one of the world's biggest flying birds.
Gurgle
Gurgle is a royal gramma fish (Gramma loreto), a species given a regal title due to its striking purple and yellow colouring. These fish have a peaceful nature and a simple diet of zooplankton and crustaceans.
Jacques
The tank’s resident cleaner is Jacques, a Pacific cleaner shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) – an apt casting, don’t you agree? The species is considered a cleaner shrimp due to its tendency to eat parasites and dead tissue from fish, both of which make up the bulk of its diet.
Anchor
Another believer in “Fish are friends, not food,” Anchor is part of Bruce’s support group – but unlike Bruce, he’s a hammerhead shark.
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You can watch Finding Nemo on DisneyPlus