【1】Most vertebrates are born male or female, and their sex does not change during their lives. However, some fish are different. Some can change from male to female or from female to male. Others are born with both male and female reproductive organs.
【2】Clownfish are a well-known example of fish that can change from male to female. They are famous for living together with sea anemones, which have poisonous tentacles.
【3】In one sea anemone, there are often two adult clownfish, one male and one female, together with several smaller young fish. However, the adults and the young fish are not parents and children. When baby clownfish hatch from their eggs, they soon leave the sea anemone where they were born and spend some time floating in the sea.
【1】脊椎動物のほとんどは、生まれたときから性別が決まっており、途中で変化することはありません。ところが、同じ脊椎動物でも、魚には、オスがメスへ、メスがオスへと変化したり、生まれながらにして雌雄同体のものがあります。
【2】オスからメスへ変化するものとして代表的なのは、クマノミの仲間です。クマノミは、毒を持つイソギンチャクと一緒に暮らすことで有名です。【3】ひとつのイソギンチャクに、オスとメス一匹ずつの成魚と、体の小さな幼魚の数匹で暮らしていることが多いのですが、この成魚と幼魚の間に、親子関係はありません。クマノミの稚魚は、卵から孵化すると、すぐに生まれたイソギンチャクを離れ、しばらく海の中で浮遊生活を続けます。