Wrasses clean up in the Azores

• Author(s): Bertoncini, Áthila A. ; Verani, José R. ; Barreiros, João P. ; Machado, Leonardo F. ; Hostim-Silva, Maurício
• Date: 2009
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/1629
• Origin: Repositório da Universidade dos Açores
• Subject(s): Cleaning Interactions; Cleaner Fish
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009. Cleaning interactions among fish, involve small fish or 'cleaners', which remove ectoparasites and other items, sue has dead tissue, from the body of generally larger, cooperating fish 'clients'. They usually occur at traditional sites, known as cleaning stations, where cleaners make use of a series of short-distance signals to facilitate the recognition of cleaner fish by their clients. These may include colour displays and other visual signals, such as cleaner fish dances or physical contact. Cleaners are thought to share common colour patterns, which may help clients lo recognize them easily.