Scientists have noticed that some aggressive pulpy fish can interfere with the cleaning of other fish species. Reported by Cambridge University.
Favorite Diet of Caribbean Clean Fish, Goby Elacatinus evelynaeconsists of parasites, dead tissue, scales, and mucus extracted from the bodies of other fish. By removing these parts, gobies offer their “cleaning services” to other marine life; this is a prime example of the mutually beneficial relationship between species. These fish may work alone or, together with other relatives, choose a location on the coral for a “cleaning station” where other fish species consciously swim.
new research, published In Behavioral Ecology, such stations show that if some pomacentric fish are in their habitat, it interferes with their work by aggressive behavior.
The scientists spent more than 34 hours monitoring cleaning stations on a shallow reef in Tobago for six weeks. They found that customer fish were less likely to go to treatment plants that were more frequently patrolled by pomacentres to scare away “intruders.”
“These fish act like farmers, weeding out algae they don’t need to encourage the growth of their preferred algae species. Pomotherines spend a lot of time defending and patrolling algae areas, scaring off intruders by biting, attacking, and chasing them,” explain the authors.
Pomacentres zones cover up to 70% of some reefs. A healthy coral reef maintains a balance between algae and corals. But as the condition of the reefs deteriorates and overfishing intensifies, the algae are thriving. In turn, this can lead to the spread of pomacentric fish, which will seriously interfere with the cleansing of the body of the fish, which is important for their health. Ultimately, this can lead to the destruction of sensitive coral reef ecosystems.
In the future, the authors want to learn about the purpose of pomacentres – are they simply trying to protect their “farm” or are they hoping to monopolize treatment plants they don’t use very often?