Looking for Marla, the story of a fish’s transition

Paloma Medina, UCSC Ph.D. student biomolecular engineering & bioinformatics, Audrey Ford artist/writer, and Jessica Kendall-Bar artists/student, UCSC ecology & evolutionary biology

Looking for Marla follows the tale of a curious clownfish in transition as they find their way through fatherhood, and into motherhood. In wild clownfish populations, a male will transition into the role of the dominant female of the community when the female of their community is removed. This biological fact is omitted from the iconic movie Finding Nemo and is a story that our book Looking for Marla helps to share and correct. Looking for Marla hopes to inspire readers of all ages on their own journey of gender expression and self-exploration, while they discover the diversity of parental care strategies in the underwater world!