The cleaning goby mutualism: a system without punishment, partner switching or tactile stimulation

Soares, Marta C.; Côté, Isabelle M.; Cardoso, Sónia C.; Bshary, Redouan

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00489.x

Cited by 36 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…This appears to be consistent among other clients of cleaning gobies (Soares et al 2008c). Thus, the parrotfish clients of cleaner wrasses seem to use partner switching as a control mechanism against cheating while parrotfish clients of cleaning gobies do not.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…A comparison between various cleaner wrasse species in the Red Sea suggests that cleaning evolved as a by-product mutualism (Brown 1983), in which cleaners initially grazed and ingested small benthic invertebrates and later picked these food items from fish, while more complex behavioural interactions and signalling might have evolved only in more specialized species (Barbu et al 2011). For example, in Caribbean cleaning gobies, Elacatinus spp., the level of conflict between cleaners and clients appears to be lower than in the cleaner wrasse system (Soares et al 2008c(Soares et al , 2010. Indeed, Soares et al (2008c) found no evidence for punishment, partner switching and manipulation through tactile stimulation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

“…For example, in Caribbean cleaning gobies, Elacatinus spp., the level of conflict between cleaners and clients appears to be lower than in the cleaner wrasse system (Soares et al 2008c(Soares et al , 2010. Indeed, Soares et al (2008c) found no evidence for punishment, partner switching and manipulation through tactile stimulation. The absence of control strategies and counterstrategies may be explained by the foraging preferences of cleaning gobies: in contrast to cleaner wrasses, cleaning gobies prefer ectoparasites over mucus (Soares et al 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 89%

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Indo-Pacific parrotfish exert partner choice in interactions with cleanerfish but Caribbean parrotfish do not

Soares¹,

Cardoso²,

Nicolet³

et al. 2013

Animal Behaviour

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Keywords:behavioural strategy conflict cooperation Elacatinus spp. Labroides dimidiatus mutualism parrotfish partner choice Cooperation theory puts a strong emphasis on partner control mechanisms that have evolved to stabilize cooperation against the temptation of cheating. The marine cleaning mutualism between the IndoPacific bluestreack cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, and its reef fish 'clients' has been a model system to study partner control mechanisms and counterstrategies. These cleaners cooperate by eating ectoparasites; however, they can cheat by taking client mucus, which they prefer. Such a conflict may be the exception. For example, Caribbean cleaning gobies, Elacatinus spp., prefer to eat ectoparasites instead of mucus. While partner control mechanisms and counterstrategies seem to be absent in cleaning gobies, no study has directly compared cleaner wrasses and cleaning gobies by using the same methods. We examined systematic differences in cleaning interaction patterns and strategic behaviour exhibited by 12 closely related parrotfish species in the two systems. Parrotfish seeking cleaner wrasses visited them more often and spent more time with their cleaner than parrotfish seeking cleaning gobies. Moreover, the clients of cleaner wrasses returned more often to the same cleaner following a positive interaction, whereas the clients of cleaning gobies were less influenced by the outcome of previous interactions. We hypothesize that the higher frequency and repeated nature of interactions observed in the cleaner wrasse system, combined with the need to resolve conflicts, might have been prerequisites for the development of complex behavioural strategies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

mentioning

confidence: 89%

mentioning

confidence: 89%

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Indo-Pacific parrotfish exert partner choice in interactions with cleanerfish but Caribbean parrotfish do not

Soares¹,

Cardoso²,

Nicolet³

et al. 2013

Animal Behaviour

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show abstract

“…Unlike L. dimidiatus, Elacatinus spp. are not tempted to cheat because they prefer eating ectoparasites over mucus [59], and clients do not use punishment to enforce cooperation [60]. Since Elacatinus spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualistic cleaner fish maintains high escape performance despite privileged relationship with predators

Gingins¹,

Roche²,

Bshary³

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Predatory reef fishes regularly visit mutualistic cleaner fish (Labroides dimidiatus) to get their ectoparasites removed but show no interest in eating them. The concept of compensated trait loss posits that characters can be lost if a mutualistic relationship reduces the need for a given trait. Thus, selective pressures on escape performance might have relaxed in L. dimidiatus due to its privileged relationship with predators. However, the cost of failing to escape a predatory strike is extreme even if predation events on cleaners are exceptionally rare. Additionally, cleaners must escape from non-predatory clients that regularly punish them for eating mucus instead of parasites. Therefore, strong escape capabilities might instead be maintained in cleaner fish because they must be able to flee when in close proximity to predators or dissatisfied clients. We compared the fast-start escape performance of L. dimidiatus with that of five closely related wrasse species and found that the mutualistic relationship that cleaners entertain with predators has not led to reduced escape performance. Instead, conflicts in cleaning interactions appear to have maintained selective pressures on this trait, suggesting that compensated trait loss might only evolve in cases of high interdependence between mutualistic partners that are not tempted to cheat.

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“…Despite similarities between the cleaner–client mutualisms of wrasses and gobies, there are striking differences. Wrasse cleaners invest in preconflict management strategies with predators and are subject to partner switching and punishment by clients (Bshary & Würth, 2001; Bshary & Grutter, 2002, 2005); these modes of enforcement have not been observed among clients of Caribbean cleaner gobies (Soares et al. , 2008c).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colourful stripes send mixed messages to safe and risky partners in a diffuse cleaning mutualism

Lettieri

Streelman

2010

J of Evolutionary Biology

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The steps by which neutral, random and/or negative biological interactions evolve into mutualistic ones remain poorly understood. Here, we study Elacatinus gobies and the ‘client’ fishes they clean. Colourful stripes are common to mutualist cleaners and noncleaning sister species. Blue stripes are unique to cleaners and are more conspicuous to predators than are basal yellow or green stripes. In turn, we focused on the role of colour as a potentially specialized signal. We show that cleaners may possess a chemical defence and demonstrate that stripes are sufficient to elicit client posing behaviour and to deter attack, corroborating the putative role of chemistry. Analysis of previously published records shows that yellow cleaners interact with predatory clients less often compared to green and blue cleaners. Our results highlight evolution from predator resistance to advertising with conspicuous signals. Similar trajectories, via recognizable signals to risky partners, may be common in other diffuse mutualisms.

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The cleaning goby mutualism: a system without punishment, partner switching or tactile stimulation

Cited by 36 publications

References 38 publications

Indo-Pacific parrotfish exert partner choice in interactions with cleanerfish but Caribbean parrotfish do not

Indo-Pacific parrotfish exert partner choice in interactions with cleanerfish but Caribbean parrotfish do not

Mutualistic cleaner fish maintains high escape performance despite privileged relationship with predators

Colourful stripes send mixed messages to safe and risky partners in a diffuse cleaning mutualism

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