Do you remember the movie “Finding Nemo”? About a little fish who is trying to find his way home? According to a study conducted by team of scientists from Australia, France, and the U.S, coral reef fish are indeed able to make their way back home, in case they were dispersed by ocean currents. The scientists used a new tagging technique to track down  to track two populations of fish, including the endearing orange, black, and white reef-dwelling clownfish made famous in the movie “Finding Nemo.”

The tagging method was developed by Simon Thorrold at WHOI and it involves injecting minute quantities of harmless stable barium isotopes into breeding female fish.

The tagging method itself represents an important achievement as is the first time whn scientists have successfully used a new internal tagging method in the field, as well as in the lab.

The study took place in coral reefs located in a marine protected area in Papua, New Guinea and the scientists found that young fish from the clownfish (Amphiprion percula) and the vagabond butterflyfish (Chaetodon vagabundus) species made it back to their home reef about 60 percent of the time.

The study is also a premiere because is the first comparison between two fish species with different reproductive strategies and dispersal patterns.

“If we understand how fish larvae disperse, it will enable better design of marine protected areas, and this will help in the rebuilding of threatened fish populations,” said Almany, lead author on the Science article.

“Just as importantly,” added Almany “40 percent of the juveniles came from other reefs that are at least ten kilometers (five miles) away, which indicates significant exchange between populations separated by open sea. This shows how marine protected areas can contribute to maintaining fish populations outside no-fishing zones.”