HOBSON: CLEANING SYMBIOSIS 



CLEANING ACTIVITY OF 

 THE SENORITA 



Unlike some other cleaners (see Feder, 1966) , 

 senoi-itas do not establish well-defined stations 

 at which they receive other fishes seeking to be 

 cleaned. Rather, the senoritas, as they move 

 over the local area, approach and clean fishes 

 wherever they encounter them. 



Despite their great abundance, only a small 

 segment of the seiiorita population seems pre- 

 disposed to clean at a given time. The cleaning 

 habit is not limited to any particular stage in 

 their life history: cleaning senoritas have in- 

 cluded some of the smallest individuals seen 

 (< 40 mm) as well as some of the largest 

 (> 225 mm). In cleaning material from the 

 bodies of fishes, senoritas employ the same pick- 

 ing technique they use to take small prey from 

 a rock or algal substrate. This mode of feeding, 

 along with their pointed snout and long, for- 

 ward-projecting canine teeth, are well suited to 

 the cleaning habit. 



Individuals that clean are numerous where 

 there are many resident fishes, especially of 

 certain species (as discussed below) , but I found 

 no evidence that residents of other areas come 

 to these locations to have parasites removed. 

 Occasionally a migrating species, such as the 

 California yellowtail, Seriola dorsalis, will pause 

 to be cleaned while passing through areas where 

 cleaners are active, but this is not the same as 

 a resident of a particular area habitually swim- 

 ming elsewhere to be cleaned and then returning 

 to its home ground. 



Fishes Cleaned by the Senorita 



Casual observation alone show that some fish 

 species are cleaned far more often than others, 

 and that many species do not seem to interact 

 with cleaners at all. 



To obtain data on this point, a record was kept 

 of the species seen being cleaned by senoritas 

 during 62 observation periods (15 min to 2 hr 

 long) from June 1968 to January 1969. During 

 this period, 392 cleaning bouts were witnessed, 

 385 of which involved senoritas cleaning one or 

 more individuals of a single species; in only 



seven instances were senoritas seen cleaning 

 members of a mixed-species group. The tabu- 

 lation of species cleaned (Table 1) does not in- 

 clude the mixed-species groups because in the 

 mixed groups it was not determined whether 

 representatives of all species present were ac- 

 tually cleaned. All seven mixed groups included 

 halfmoons, Medialuna calif orniensis, and one or 

 more fish of other species. In four of these, 

 halfmoons were mixed with blacksmiths, in one 

 they were mixed with opaleyes (Girella nigric- 

 ans), in one with rubberlip perch {Rhacochilus 

 toxotes), and in one with both rubberlip perch 

 and pile perch. All of these were incidental 

 observations. The compilation does not include 

 data obtained on other occasions when the ac- 

 tivity of individual cleaners was recorded for 

 extended periods. 



The data clearly indicate that blacksmiths, and 

 to a lesser extent topsmelt (Atherinops af finis) , 

 predominate as recipients of the senorita's clean- 

 ing efforts in the areas where the observations 

 were made. Table 1 is not a definitive list of 

 species cleaned by the senorita ; nevertheless, it 

 is evident that many species which co-occur with 

 the senorita are not cleaned. At other times, 

 in addition to all species noted in Table 1, 1 have 

 seen Seriola dorsalis and Trachurus symmet- 

 j'icus being cleaned. But the ratio of species 

 listed here generally is consistent with observa- 

 tions made on other occasions and at many dif- 

 ferent locations. 



Table 1. — Fishes observed being cleaned by senoritas 

 during 62 observation periods betvi'een June 1968 and 

 January 1969 at La JoUa, Calif, (exclusive of seven 

 mixed-species groups). 



497 



