A social media campaign aimed at protecting wild clownfish stocks is drawing support from Flinders staff and students as well as international celebrities.

US television talk show host Ellen de Generes, who provides the voice of Nemo’s friend Dory in two Disney films based on the animated characters, is among the supporters of the savingnemo campaign organised by Flinders biologist Associate Professor Karen Burke da Silva and her University of Queensland colleague Anita Nedosyko.

Following a surge in the popularity  of clownfish as pets in the wake of Saving Nemo, the pair are urging those who see the upcoming sequel to buy their clownfish from stock bred in nurseries rather than taking wild fish from reefs.

The campaign has drawn attention from media outlets around the world. You can add your support to the campaign by posting your own Instagram fish-kiss here.