Abstract
The cleaning symbiosis in coral reef fish is one of the most remarkable mutualist marine interactions; the main actors are cleaner and client fishes, that communicate via tactile and visual stimulation, and the specific sites where this interaction happens are called cleaning stations. The removal of ectoparasites is a contribution to the health of clients, which may have an important role as herbivores or carnivores, and therefore also a contribution for a healthy ecosystem. The aim of this work was to identify the cleaning interaction as an indicator of reef health in the center-south of the Mexican Caribbean. Hence, we located and described the cleaning stations and the attributes of cleaner and client fishes for three climatic seasons in four locations with different degrees of conservation (i.e., time since declaration as protected areas), in the biosphere reserves of Sian Ka’an and Mexican Caribbean. Bluehead Thalassoma bifasciatum was the dominant cleaner fish in the dry and north-wind seasons, and it interacted with 27 species of client fishes year-round. The frequency of client fishes changes with the seasons; parrotfishes are the favorite clients in the dry season, and surgeonfishes for the north-wind season. We recorded for the first time high-hat Pareques acuminatus acting as a cleaner. Cleaning stations are more numerous in Mahahual, the location with the highest human impact; however, the higher structural complexity and area of this reef can explain the observed diversity of the client and cleaner species.
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The dataset analyzed during this work is available with the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the staff of the marine protected areas (CONANP) for the authorization of fieldwork, María del Carmen García-Rivas and Miguel Ángel Ruiz-Zárate for the revision and suggestions, and Roberto L. Herrera-Pavón for his help in fieldwork.
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This work was financed by Consejo Nacional de Ciencias, Humanidades, Tecnología e Innovación (CONAHCYT) with grant number 1095948.
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Ramírez-Ruiz, C.I., Schmitter-Soto, J.J. & Díaz-Osorio, A.C. Interactions of coral reef cleaner species in the Mexican Caribbean. Environ Biol Fish 106, 1831–1850 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-023-01459-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-023-01459-1