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Studies have shown that blue colouration within the cleaner fish pattern attracts more client reef fish to stations. The only time you are likely to see any aggression is when a clever fang blenny (Aspidontus taeniatus), identical in colouring to the cleaner wrasse, cheekily mimics its jerky dance and attracts a client. Aspidontus is a vampire in disguise. In goes the unsuspecting fish, anticipating the ensuing pleasures of a spring clean and in nips the fang blenny. It dances around the fish lulling it into security before darting in and taking a rather painful nip.
In a similar way that the cleaners advertise their services, fish eager for a spring clean and health check posture by keeping their body still, head up or head down, fins extended and gills and mouths open. It’s a vulnerable position for a fish. The fish trusts the cleaner implicitly not to do it harm as it presents its most delicate body parts to what may be a virtual stranger. With its blue and yellow markings, the cleaner is instantly recognisable to fish needing its care [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and its station [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], usually a coral head, provides the sort of trusting environment that lets fish clients allow the cleaners to do their job.
Cleaner Wrasse Fight for Territory
The blue streaked cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) that attends to the fish on a coral reef is a perfect example of symbiosis, the tight dependency of two species on one another. In this case, the relationship is between the cleaner wrasse and up to 200 species of coral reef fish. It’s a remarkable feat of evolution, a classic case of you scratch my back and it works to perfection; the reef fish get a good clean and the wrasse get a tasty feast of parasites and mucous.
Most cleaning stations are located in the shallower parts of the reef down to about 20m. It’s likely that the topography of the reef [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], availability of space and nearest competing station dictates where they are sited. Stations are divided into areas where the fish clients actually get cleaned and a larger area nearby that is used for advertising by the cleaners. There is of course competition and protecting your patch is critical. Cleaner wrasses regularly fight for territory around the reef, defending prime advertising or cleaning spots.
The blue and yellow striped cleaner fish belongs to a family of over 500 species of wrasse and is one of the most specialised fish on a coral reef. The diminutive cleaners dance and bob seductively around the reef advertising their presence and attracting clients for a clean. A cleaner station is the one territory on a coral reef where so many species freely mix without any aggression. There is only one thing on their minds, and it's not war.
Fang Blenny Mimics Cleaner Wrasse
Read on
Mutual Symbiotic Relationships in the Ocean
Colourful Fish Mimics Identity Theft
Tropical Marine Aquarium Wrasses
It seems even here in the fish world, there are queue jumpers. It appears that cleaners have a preference for fish species and surgeons and parrotfish are right up there at the top. It’s unclear why cleaners make such decisions but it’s likely to do with the type of parasite they get from the different fish. Reef fish are commonly infested with gnathiid isopods, tiny parasites often found feeding around a wound. As the parasites munch away happily, the fish is in a great deal of discomfort.The cleaner's favourite food is, however, the nutrient-rich mucus layer that covers the client fish.
Reef Fish Posture to Cleaner Wrasse
The most intriguing observation of these stations is the calmness that surrounds the process and its one that photographers and scientists exploit to get close to otherwise skittish