The image above shows a cleaner wrasse ( Labroides Phthirophagus) searching for parasites on the body of a White-Spotted Puffer fish ( Arothron hispidus). Although the cleaner fish put themselves into apparent danger by swimming so close to larger predators, the benefits of the cleaning service to the client outweighs the benefits of eating the cleaner, and the cleaners are almost never harmed most cleaner fish even have a clientele of repeat customers! To rid themselves of the parasites, the fish visit the cleaning stations, and allow the wrasse to move up and down their bodies (even inside their mouths), searching for and eating the ectoparasites. However, they also pose a risk to fish through the transmission of disease.
DEFINITION OF ECOTONE SKIN
Throughout their lives, many species of fish become infected by ectoparasites, which spawn in open water and attach themselves to the skin and other glands of fish in order to feed on the host’s blood these parasites are mostly benign and probably just cause an irritation. They reside within areas of tropical reefs, which are known as ‘cleaning stations’, advertising their services by performing a ‘dance’ (they make quick movements up and down, undulating their bodies in the water). The wrasse is a small fish, with striking lines of bright coloration along its body. One of the most notable cleaning mutualisms is the relationship between the genus of wrasse fish Labroides and their many ‘clients’. Examples of Mutualisms Cleaning MutualismsĪ mutualism in which one mutualistic partner removes parasites, as well as dead or diseased skin from another, in return receiving a steady supply of food, is called a cleaning mutualism. The concept of a mutualism is in contrast to interspecific competition, which occurs when organisms from different species compete for a resource, resulting in reduced fitness for one of the individuals or populations involved while the other benefits.
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