Emo Nemos: Aussie bred black and white clownfish join Sydney Aquarium

Disney film Finding Nemo popularised clownfish but now you can see the Aussie bred babies dubbed ‘Emo Nemos’.

While these cute baby clownfish look similar to what we saw in Disney’s animated Finding Nemo, these special creatures are a little different.

Sea Life Sydney Aquarium welcomed these 50 baby black and white Ocellaris Clownfish last week and because of their special morph, being black instead of orange, they are affectionately known as ‘Emo Nemos’ at the aquarium.

SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium has welcomed 50 baby black and white Ocellaris Clownfish. Image: SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium.

What also makes these creatures so cool — aside from their unique colour — is that they can naturally change sex from male to female. But once they change, they can’t go back.

Sea Life’s displays curator Laura Simmons said these specific clownfish are only found on reefs in the Northern Territory.

The baby clownfish are only 5cm long and will grow to 11cm. Image: Sea Life Sydney Aquarium

“They’re true Aussies and … that habitat is quite unique because reefs there are a bit different,” she said.

“What also makes them special is that they are some of the first F1 generation — which means their parents are from the wild — but they were successfully aquacultured.”

Ms Simmons said while the fish did not go into their new home right away, they have now adapted to their new anemone, which are the marine animals with wavy tentacles that resemble underwater flowers.

The baby Ocellaris Clownfish at Sea Life. Image: Sea Life Sydney Aquarium

“It’s natural for an animal to be cautious,” she said.

“They were swimming around the aquarium in a group, but didn’t go into the anemone and it took about a week for their wild instincts to kick in. It was their first anemone ever.”

You can see the baby Nemos — which are currently 5cm long and will grow to 11cm — at the Darling Harbour aquarium’s Jurassic Seas exhibit.