Patterns of cleaning behaviour on coral reef fish by the anemoneshrimpAncylomenes pedersoni

Abstract

Little is known about the cleaning behaviour of shrimps in comparison to that of cleaner fish, and only recently have cleaner shrimps been shown to remove parasites effectively from coral reef fish. Here we describe patterns of cleaning interactions between Pederson shrimpAncylomenes pedersoniand fish clients in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Clients observed here were members of at least 16 fish families, including three previously unreported client families. Most cleans lasted <20 seconds; surgeonfish were cleaned most frequently, but lizardfish and groupers received the longest cleans. The shrimp formed social groups of varying sizes on individuals of the host sea anemoneBartholomea annulata, which served as the centres of their cleaning stations. The number and duration of cleans per station increased with the number of resident shrimp, however most anemones hosted small groups of fewer than four individuals, while larger groups of up to nine individuals were relatively rare. Some client fish chased away other fish and competitively excluded them from anemone stations. We conclude that these shrimp clean a wide diversity of clients, vary their clean duration with fish identity, and clean more when in large groups. In addition, clients in part control these patterns of interaction by interfering with access to these stations by other clients.

Temporal patterns of Pederson shrimp (Ancylomenes pedersoni Chace 1958) cleaning interactions on Caribbean coral reefs

“…The diversity of clients we observed is similar to that reported by Huebner and Chadwick (2012a) in the US Virgin Islands and by Wicksten (1995Wicksten ( , 1998 in Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. Huebner and Chadwick (2012a) observed 16 client families at A. pedersoni stations, Wicksten (1995Wicksten ( , 1998 observed 13 client families, and we observed 17 total client families in Honduras (including two observed during camera deployment).…”

“…120-180 min) from time of deployment. Videos were downloaded and cleaning behavior analyzed after Huebner and Chadwick (2012a). A cleaning interaction was defined as physical contact, however brief, between A. pedersoni and client fish (see link in the Supplementary Material for example cleaning video).…”

“…At face value, there appears to be significant overlap in client diversity between A. pedersoni and its goby counterparts (Johnson and Ruben 1988;Wicksten 1995Wicksten , 1998Huebner and Chadwick 2012a). Twenty-three families of reef fish have been documented at A. pedersoni cleaning stations and 31 at goby stations (Table 1); 20 of these are shared between the two types of cleaners.…”

“…Reported visitation rates are greater at cleaner fish stations (Johnson and Ruben 1988;Wicksten 1995Wicksten , 1998Côté and Molloy 2003;Huebner and Chadwick 2012a), whereas average cleaning duration is greater at cleaner shrimp stations (Johnson and Ruben 1988;Huebner and Chadwick 2012a). Some of these differences could be attributed to geographic habitat variation, as not all reefs will have the same client diversity or harbor the same abundance of ectoparasites.…”

Spectral sensitivity, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution and their implications for conspecific signalling in cleaner shrimp

“…Cleaner shrimp attract clients to cleaning stations, which they usually occupy in groups or pairs (Bauer, 2006;Briones-Fourzán et al, 2012;Bshary et al, 2007;Chapuis and Bshary, 2010;Fletcher et al, 1995;Huebner and Chadwick, 2012b), and then provide cleaning services to clients by removing ectoparasites, in turn receiving a meal. Thus, cleaner shrimp interact on a regular basis with conspecifics and client fish, both of which, to human observers, display brilliant colours and fine patterns.…”