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Home › Types of Sea Life › Cleaner Fish Facts

Facts about Cleaner Fish

A captivating world of fish feeding strategies take place at designated coral reef cleaning stations underneath the surface of the oceans.

So, who does this "underwater spa" benefit, what kind of fish make the best cleaners, and what do these cleaner fish actually eat? Let's dive in and find out more about cleaning symbiosis!

How Fish Cleaning Stations Help the Oceans

The underwater world brings to mind a fascinating mix of vibrant coral formations, swaying sea fans, and colourful fish families.

Yet, some of the less appreciated oceanic creatures need to provide a special service for their "clients" in order to survive.

In other words...

Underwater cleaning stations are base camps where an extraordinary exchange of services transpire, known as "cleaning symbiosis".

It's one that combines mutual trust with interactive cooperation, and it's a vital part of healthy reef communities.

We're talking about the intriguing world of cleaner fish and the cleaning stations they operate in. In fact, you can describe them as nature's underwater wellness centers.

What Is a Fish Cleaner Station?

There's an easy way to define a fish cleaning station. It's a specific location, usually on a large healthy reef, where big fish come with the sole intention of being "cleaned" by smaller fishes or one of the marine crustaceans, such as the cleaner shrimps.

Most of these visitors (called "clients"), are groupers, parrotfishes, octopuses, and a few of the reef shark species.

The typical creatures that participate in this kind of "cleaning mutualism" tend to be large fishes. But, some of the biggest marine mammals (e.g. manatees, whales) are also known to divulge in underwater skin care.

They hover patiently in a suitable place, and signal their request for a cleaning - often with a subtle colour change or by their body posturing.

Which Cleaner Fish are the Best Cleaners?

It's true to say the wrasses, especially the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, are the superstars of these fascinating reef-side salons.

Even so, other fish cleaners that enjoy free meals, include:

• Angelfishes (e.g. juvenile French angelfish, the gray angelfish)
• Caribbean cleaning goby (Elacatinus evelynae)
• Cleaner Shrimps (e.g. Lysmata amboinensis)
• Juvenile Striped Raphael Catfish (Platydoras armatulus)
• Lumpsuckers (Cyclopteridae)
• Pipefishes (especially Janss' pipefish)

These cleaners nibble away ectoparasites, dead tissue, and mucus from different parts of the body of much larger client creatures, including inside their mouths and gill chambers.

Despite their tiny size, cleaner fish have a crucial ecological role in marine ecosystems. By reducing parasitic load, they help to improve the general health and lifespan of other reef inhabitants.

Interesting Fact: Studies show that the removal of cleaner fish from an area would result in a significant decline in fish diversity and overall reef vitality.

A Relationship Built on Trust

One of the primary reasons that this relationship is so remarkable is the mutual trust required by all participants.

As mentioned, a cleaner fish swims into the mouth and gill of a client fish that could easily devour them in a single gulp. Yet, it's extremely rare for cleaner fishes to be harmed and almost unheard of for them to be eaten alive.

Often, the client fish will exhibit an extraordinary measure of patience. In fact, they will sometimes need to "wait in line" to take their turn.

But wait - there's more:

In some cases, a cleaner gets a little bit greedy and may nip off healthy fish scales instead of parasites - a process called "cheating". When this happens, the client usually swims away in disgust - or feels "cheated" enough to stop coming to that particular cleaning station.

Without any doubt, this mutualistic interaction is sophisticated, and a win-win partnership in a world that is often driven by a "survival of the fittest" regime.

Still, cleaning symbiosis has even been studied as a model for cooperative behavioural patterns and evolutionary biology.

An Essential Part of Healthy Reef Communities

Cleaning stations are more than a fascinating spectacle to watch. In fact, they're a vital part of marine ecosystems and they help to maintain a delicate balance.

Not only do they help to control pesky parasite populations, they also help to reduce disease transmission among fishes. Hence, cleaner fish support the health of individual species as well as the entire community.

In case you were wondering...

Marine enthusiasts, and especially people who get certified in scuba diving, also get to witness a cleaning station in action.

It is a slow and purposeful ballet of trust between predator and prey and a colourful flurry of activity. It serves as an important reminder that even the smallest aquatic creatures can have a profound impact.

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