Do anemone know fish are playing in them?

[Faye]

This is a stupid question, but do our anemones know they are hosting clownfish?

 

[bradleym]

I'm gonna vote no. The point of the protection is that the anemone will still sting OTHER fish. If the anemone knew their was a potential meal on hand it would eat it, as sometimes happens with clowns in Haddoni carpets. So I believe the hosting is a result of the anemone being tricked into thinking the fish is part of it. JMO

 

[hogben]

This is a stupid question, but do our anemones know they are hosting clownfish?

I would like to think they do.

Anemones can't recognize they are food, that's for sure.

I guess some aspect of the clownfish slime coat gives them a familiarity with the anemone? As if to say "hey I'm one of you," or maybe it's just like an invisibility cloak to the anemone senses.

 

[Angel*Fish]

They don't have brains. Basically they just respond to environmental stimuli in the way that they've evolved to do.