The cleaner wrasses Labroides dimidiatus removing dead skin and external parasites from the grouper Epinephelus tukula.

Cleaner fish are fishes that provide a service to other fish species by removing dead skin and external parasites. Genera (60 genera) The wrasses are a family (family Labridae) of reef safe marine fish, many of which are brightly-colored and popular for aquaria. ... Genera Acanthistius Alphestes Anyperidon Caprodon Cephalopholis Cromileptes Dermatolepis Epinephelus Gonioplectrus Gracila HypoplectrodesLiopropoma Mycteroperca Niphon Paranthias Plectropomus Saloptia Triso Variola For the computer program, see Grouper (Windows application). ...

Diversity of cleaner fish

The best known cleaner fish are the cleaner wrasses of the genus Labroides found on coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. These small fish maintain so-called "cleaning stations" where other fish, known as hosts, will congregate and perform specific movements to attract the attention of the cleaner fish. Remarkably, these small cleaner fish will safely clean large predatory fish that would otherwise eat small fishes such as these.^[1] Cleaner wrasses appear to get almost all their nutrition through this cleaning service, and when maintained in aquaria rarely survive for long because they cannot obtain enough to eat.^[2]

Cleaning behaviours have been observed in a number of other fish groups. Neon gobies of the genera Gobiosoma and Elacatinus provide a similar cleaning service to the cleaner wrasses, though this time on reefs in the Western Atlantic, providing a good example of convergent evolution. Unlike the cleaner wrasses, they also eat a variety of small animals as well being cleaner fish, and generally do well in aquaria^[3]. However, the Caribbean cleaning goby (Elacatinus evelynae) will gladly eat scales and mucus from the host when the the ectoparasites it normally feeds on are scarce, making the relationship somewhat less than mutual. The symbiosis does not break down because the abundance of these parasites varies significantly seasonally and spacially, and the overall benefit to the larger fish outweighs any cheating on the part of the smaller^[4].

An interesting example of a cleaning symbiosis has been observed between two brackish water cichlids of the genus Etroplus from South Asia. The small species Etroplus maculatus is the cleaner fish, and the much larger Etroplus suratensis is the host that receives the cleaning service.^[5] Subfamilies Amblyopinae Gobiinae Gobionellinae Oxudercinae Sicydiinae See also list of Gobiidae genera The gobies form the family Gobiidae, which is one of the largest families of fish, with more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. ... The Atlantic Ocean forms a component of the all-encompassing World Ocean and is directly linked to the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. ... In evolutionary biology, convergent evolution is the process whereby organisms not closely related, independently evolve similar traits as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. ... A parasite is an organism that lives in or on the living tissue of a host organism at the expense of that host. ... In biology, mutualism is an interaction between two or more species, where both species derive benefit. ... Meat Ants harvest Leaf Hoppers for their honey dew. ... Meat Ants harvest Leaf Hoppers for their honey dew. ... Brackish water (less commonly brack water) is water that is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as seawater. ... Genera Apistogramma - Dwarf Cichlids Astronotus (Oscars) Boulengerochromis Cichlasoma - American Ciclids Crenicichla Pterophyllum - Freshwater Angelfish Symphysodon - Discus Teleogramma Tilapia Cichlids are a family of perciform fishes. ... Species Etroplus canarensis Etroplus maculatus Etroplus suratensis Etroplus is a small genus of cichlids with only three species. ... Map of South Asia (see note on Kashmir). ...

Cleaning is notably less common in freshwater habitats than in marine habitats. One of the few examples of cleaning is juvenile Striped Raphael catfish cleaning the piscivorous Hoplias cf. malabaricus.^[6]

Sabre-tooth blenny

The sabre-toothed blenny Aspidontus taeniatus is a blenny than mimics the cleaner wrasse but instead of providing a useful cleaning service bites off pieces of healthy skin and scales from the host before darting away to safety.^[7] Binomial name Aspidontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 The sabre-toothed blenny, Aspidontus taeniatus, is a species of blenny that imitates the dance of a similarly colored species of cleaner wrasse. ... The common name blenny is ambiguous at best, as it has been applied to several families of perciform marine fishes all sharing similar morphology and behaviour. ... A mimic is any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic. ...

See also

• Cleaner shrimp, small marine shrimps that provide a similar cleaning service to cleaner fish.
• Doctor fish, fish that provide a cleaning service to humans.
• Social grooming, cleaning services offered between members of the same species.
• Surgeonfish, named for the scalpel-like blades near their tails.
• Tinca tinca, known as the "doctor fish" in the UK.

Binomial name Lysmata amboinensis De Man, 1888 Lysmata amboinensis (often referred to simply as cleaner shrimp) is an omnivorous shrimp species, which will generally scavenge and eat parasites and dead tissue. ... This article is about the freshwater fish used for treatment of skin diseases, notably in Kangal district, Turkey. ... In social animals and humans social grooming is a major social activity, and a means by which animals who live in proximity can bond and reinforce social structures, family links, and build relationships. ... Genera Acanthurus Ctenochaetus Naso (unicornfishes) Paracanthurus Prionurus Zebrasoma (tangs) Acanthuridae (thorn tail) is the family of surgeonfishes, tangs, and unicornfishes. ... A scalpel is a very sharp knife used for surgery, anatomical dissection, and various arts and crafts. ...

References