MSIM.RV imi.l,l',IlN: vol. l,'l, NO. 3 



c.'iuil.il iicdiinclc ())• <Miiilal (in, 22/^ at the base of 

 the pi'cloral lin, !()'< somewhere on Ifie body 

 oxclu.sive of ii (iii-ha.se or head, K'^ on the head, 

 5% at the bust' of I lie pelvic (in.i, and )'.'; .al I he 

 l)aHO of the dorsal (in. 



(Dearly, tlie bases of the (ins (-(^cteive rno:-.( of 

 (he .■illenlioii ffoni the seiioritas. 'I'hese data 

 ai(! (;on:;isLeiil with the niatiy more k<'I"''"iI "b- 

 Hei'vations mHd(! on other occasions. At no time 

 dnrinj^ this study were senoritas seen to elean 

 within the or.al or branchial cavities of black 

 smitlis: ail cleanin)'; w;is dii-ected .'d the liody 

 snrf.'ice. 



Si'iiorila-lDiisiiicll i III (■ nirl !<iiin.- The top- 

 smelt, which .attains a leiiKlh of .about 200 mm, is 

 abnnd.inl in ni.aiiy inshoi'e rcKions of Californi.-i 

 coastal waters, but its flistribution is more spotty 

 tlian th.at of IIk! ubi(iuitous i)lacksmith. Like 

 till" blacksmith, it feeds larccly on zoopl.ankton, 

 whicli it lakes while swinuiiiiiK in larjve schools 

 at the watcr'.s surface. (Juast ( IIXJK) noted the 

 simil.arity in dii-l between bipsmelt and bl.ick- 

 smitlis, and while acknowN-dcinj': th.at (lu'ir feed- 

 in)C .'irc'is m;iy oM'rl:ip. he puinlcd dut tli.it (op 

 •smelt norm.ally swim liic.her- in the w.atcr colimm. 



In the l,;i ,b)lla study area, topsmelt ;ire con 

 centr.aled .'it the inshore station over exti^nsive 

 lields (d' Mirfivr.'e;;; th.al >'.row in I', to ,'"> m of 

 wat<'r. 'I'liey .'ire nevei' far from the substi'.ate 

 in this relatively sh.allow water, even thou).','h 

 they swim in lar^e schools .at the widcr's sur- 

 face. They are more abund.ant th.an blacksmiths 

 in this area, and iier(> tiiey predomin.ate in the 

 sehorita's cleaning activity. 



The cleaning'' inter.aclion proceeds in much the 

 same w.ay as it does with bl.acksmilhs: the ;ic- 

 tivit.v is iiiili.ated when ;i sehorila swims up \n 

 .an individu.al topsmelt .and begins b) inspect it 

 closely, immedi.alely other lopsmell converge 

 on this p.air to |)lace themselves in the sehorita's 

 p.alh, thus soliciliniv its .Mtteidion. When pre- 

 sentinjv themselves nuitionless before seiiorit;is, 

 topsmelt fre(|ueidly hover l.ail-down, in coidr.ast 

 to the head-down posture most often assumed 

 by l)l.acksmiths. I s.aw .sehorit.as cle;iii iinl\- the 

 external i)o<iy surf.ices of topsmelt. In the rel- 

 atively shallow water where most of this activity 

 was observed, sehorit.as bicak o(I' coiit.act with a 



Ijroup of lopsmell nioi'e re.adily tli.an they do 

 with blacksndths, as they need otdy swim down 

 to the silbsli'ate below, where the topsmelt seem 

 ri'liict.anl to follow. 



These sli;illow ;ir<'as are fre(|uently swept by 

 .•;ur;-',(', and the lo.ad id' driftinj^' d(!bris in mid- 

 wat<a' is fre<|ueii1ly heavy. In this area ele.anin)^ 

 senoril.as freiiiienlly leave the j,rrou|)s of topsmelt 

 they an; atlendin;', to inspect an object driftiuK' 

 in the water nearby. Sometimes they take the 

 objec't into their moutfis, sometimes not. Often 

 w lien (;ikeri it is (|uickly I'ejected. 



Attempts at extended observations on individ- 

 ual senoritas th;il had been clcanintf topsmelt 

 were largely nnsucce.ssfid. Too often before; the 

 observ.ation li.ad proj.;r(;ssed far the senoritas 

 dis.ippe.ired amoiijj the surfjjfrass or other vege- 

 tation carpeting the .se.a dooi' in this .are.a. How- 

 ever, two individuals were followed for 10 nnn 

 e.ich, durinjv which time one; entered irdo four, 

 the other two, separate cleanin;; bouts. I'etwccn 

 cli'.inin;^ bouts these two swam over a wile area 

 .alone in nndwatcr, occasionally |)ickinK a' drift- 

 in)'; debris. On several occasions they picked at 

 liciithii' .iljrae. Neilhei' individual showed clean- 

 ing interest in species other than topsmelt, which 

 was consist(;nt with observations of other sen- 

 oril.as lh:il cK'.'ineil topsmelt. 



Sciiiirilii-fid rihdiili i II I r rii !■ I ill ii s .■ — The K'ari- 

 b.aldi, which attains .a length of about ^.SO mm, 

 is a solitaiy, hi^rhly territori.al (ish that lives 

 clo.se to tli(> substrate. lOspeci.ally during' the re- 

 product ive season, when the males aKJrressively 

 j'.ii.ird their nests anions' the rocks, these bright 

 oi'anK'e jiom.acentrids norm.ally drive away .all 

 other (ish Ih.at come ne.ai'. They feed on sessile 

 bciilliic inx'ertebr.ates .and .are .abunil.ant .at the 

 .'i- to lO-m station. 



(I.arib.aldis fre(|Ueidly .are cleaned by senoritas. 

 Most of the K'.arib.aldis seen bein^' cleaned were 

 swinmiinj;' .a metei' or so .above the bottom; I 

 (til not iibser\-e cleaners .act i\e around the pari- 

 b.aldis K'l.ardinK' nests amon^ the rocks. All of 

 the M'.'iiab.aldis seen beiuK cleaned were solit.ary, 

 which redects their territori.al n.itnre. The sen- 

 (uit.i swims up to a K'arib.aldi .and closely inspects 

 its body, thus initiating: the action. Usually the 

 jv.arib.'ildi lioNcrs motionless in -a norm.d liori- 



500 



