When cleanerfish become anemonefish

Abstract

Here we report on a previously undocumented facultative symbiosis involving the wrasses Labroides dimidiatus and Thallasoma amblycephalum living in association with two species of sea anemones, on coral reefs in the north-western Pacific. By SCUBA diving we observed juvenile L. dimidiatus occurring in Entacmaea quadricolor (solitary type) cleaning the anemonefish Amphiprion frenatus and in Heteractis magnifica cleaning the anemonefish Dascyllus trimaculatus. Thallasoma amblycephalum co-existed in H. magnifica with the anemonefish D. trimaculatus, A. ocellaris and L. dimidiatus.

Marine chemical ecology

“…The spangled emperor fish Lethrinus nebulosus used chemical cues for settlement. 215 In choice experiments, more fish settled in response to chemical cues from seagrass habitats than to chemical cues from rocks, visual cues from seagrass habitats, and visual cues from artificial seagrass habitats. In ultrastructure analysis of the olfactory rosette, this organ was well developed and capable of allowing the fish to sense odor cues to find the appropriate settlement habitat.…”