When you type “what k” into Google, the third search suggestion that currently comes up is “what kind of fish is dory.”
So it seems that a lot of folks are still curious about Dory”s real-life counterparts while Finding Dory has people flocking to the movie theater in record numbers.
Let HitFix fill you in.
Dory (and her parents, who we get to see in Finding Dory) is a Pacific blue tang. The species” scientific name is paracanthurus hepatus but also has a lot of other names: regal tang, royal blue tang, hippo tang, flag tail surgeonfish. There”s also an Atlantic blue tang out there, but Dory, as we know from Finding Nemo, originates from the Pacific Ocean, though we learn more about exactly where she grew up in Finding Dory.
Magnus Manske/Wikimedia Commons
In preparation for the film, Finding Dory“s animators were tasked with matching a video of a real blue tang in motion.
And here”s your friendly reminder to not go out and buy a Dory-look-alike for your fish bowl at home. Blue tangs are not easy to breed in captivity, unlike the clownfish (Marlin and Nemo”s species), so marine biologists are worried that the new Pixar movie will send harvesters to the fragile coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific to snatch more blue tangs as the fish gains newfound popularity with the release of the movie. Sales of blue tangs are expected to rise and already have in some regions, just as sales of clownfish multiplied at pet stores after Finding Nemo“s release in 2003.