Lecture 3_Part 3 - Cleaners and Cleaning Stations

8/12/2019 Lecture 3_Part 3 - Cleaners and Cleaning Stations

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Tourism and Manta raysPart 3: Fish cleaners and cleaning stations

By Dr. Anne-Marie Kitchen Wheeler Project Founder

Manta Ecology Project



Fish Cleaning Behaviour

Cleaning behaviour whereone or a number of animalsgroom a client is mostcommon and widespread in

reef fishes (Losey 1972), andhas been widely researchedin fish since Feder (1966).

Cleaners are defined as reef

fish or crustaceans involvedin the mutualisticrelationship of parasiteremoval and woundcleaning of the client fish.

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The cleaner may remove

ectoparasites, bacteria,

mucus, diseased and injured

tissue and unwanted food

particles from the client

(Feder 1966).

Fish are cleaned many times

each day (Grutter 1995)

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The interactions usually occur in a defined area or

territory, commonly referred to as a ‘station’

(Gooding 1964; Feder 1966; Youngbluth 1968).

A cleaning station is a defined area of cleaner fish,

although groups of conspecific cleaners may form largeaggregations which are not fixed and move around a

section of reef creating a movable cleaning station.

Client fish visit the station in anticipation of being-

cleaned by the cleaner fish. The association between

cleaners and clients is widely viewed as obligate, co-

evolved and mutualistic (Bshary and Côté 2008). 4





Thalassoma Amblycephalum

Blunthead wrasse

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Labroides dimidiatus

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

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Labroides bicolor

Bicolor wrasse

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Thalassoma lunare

Moon wrasse

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False cleaners

Bluestripedsabretoothbennies(Plagiotremus

rhinorhynchos)look like cleanerwrasse and usedeceit to attack

fish includingmantas

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How to count cleaners!

The easiest way to count

cleaners is to process

photos identifying

different species withdifferent colours (red:

blunthead, yellow: moon).

Up to 111 cleaners have

been counted on a manta.

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Types of cleaning station

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Category Description Examples

Single bommie Single bommie (or small cluster of

bommies), usually Porites spp., located at

current convergence points or current eddy

points near channel or on ocean facing

reef. Typically 1-4 aggregations of cleaners

per bommie.

Lankan reef, Maavaru, Helengeli

thila, Fushifaru thila, Big thila,

Mulidhoo corner, Kani, Kurali,

Muli, Mudakan (10 sites)

Lagoon blocks Isolated coral blocks in shallow lagoonswith sand bottoms. 1-4 aggregations of

cleaners per block.

Sunlight thila, Fairytale, Sandune,North channel, Desperation thila,

Hanifaru, Dhiggiri (7 sites)

Outer reef flat Area of reef crest or reef flat on ocean

facing outer reef. >>10 aggregations of

cleaners distributed over100-500 m²

Boduhithi Rasfari North,

Madivaru, Kalhahandi huraa,

Manadhoo, Alimathaa, Maa faru,Emas thila, Himendhoo thila (9

sites)

Area on thila Aggregation of cleaner fish at specific area

of thila, area may be visually distinctive.

10>4 aggregations of cleaners may be

involved

Table thila, Boduhithi thila, Dhigu

thila, Donfanu thila, Nelivaru,

Iguraidhoo thila, Kottefaru thila,

Ukulhas (8 sites)



• Birds-eye-view diagram

of the main cleaningstation block at Lankan

• Each “Area” is an

aggregation of cleaner

fish. The presence ofcleaners at Area 4 varied

with season

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Thank you for your attentioncontact details: [email protected]

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Lecture 3_Part 3 - Cleaners and Cleaning Stations