Don't let the name fool you - the spiny damsel fish can get itself out of distress.
Or, at least, the reef-dweller is capable of adjusting to warming sea temperatures across generations.
But exactly how the fish does that has until now been a mystery.
The answer appears to be in their genetic make-up.
A world-first study involving researchers from James Cook University found genetic qualities relating to energy production, and immune and stress responses were critical to how well the generations dealt with warmer waters.
It was all about delving into the "machinery inside the animal" to unlock the 53 key genes that help them do it, Professor Philip Munday says.
"What we think's happening here is there are a different suite of genes involved in stress and immunity," he explains.
"It's not necessarily a higher threshold, but they're able to engage a wider range of responses."
He said these cellular pathways mean the fish can, over generations, learn to withstand warmer temperatures.
The four-and-a-half-year experiment involved catching spiny damsels in the wild, then breeding two generations in the laboratory.
The species was chosen because it's common on the Great Barrier Reef and considered representative of many different varieties - the "lab rats of the sea", says Prof Munday.
While the damsel's resilience is impressive, the finding that it largely relies on metabolic traits mean it'll only work if the fish have enough to eat.
"If their food supply is failing, that might completely negate this," Prof Munday says.
"It's a complex puzzle and this is really just one piece."
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