The secret behind clownfish stripes and more fishy fascinations

We reeled in science reporter Ari Daniel for this episode who grants us three wishes in the form of three fishes. He takes us on a trip around the world to learn about how a clownfish in the western Pacific loses its stripes as it grows up just to fit in, a fat French fry of a fish that can scale a 50-foot rockface in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the remarkable rearing of a pea-sized Pokémon-like fish at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Together, these stories reveal just how remarkable and diverse these unassuming creatures are. If you liked this episode, check out our Sea Camp series . Interested in more fishy science? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org . Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

You can listen to The secret behind clownfish stripes and more fishy fascinations online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The secret behind clownfish stripes and more fishy fascinations is an episode from Short Wave by NPR.

This episode is 12:43 long.

This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Short Wave when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.