FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL, 69, NO. 3 



up to 15 min, and a verbal account of their ac- 

 tivity was recorded on taiie. The attempted 

 standard of 15 min could not be maintained for 

 all these observations because sometimes con- 

 tact with the fish beinjr watched was lost as the 

 fish swam among vegetation or other fishes. In- 

 dividuals followed included known cleaners as 

 well as others that had not shown evidence of 

 cleaning. In monitoring the activity of known 

 cleaners, a record was kept of the time during 

 which they showed an apparent cleaning inter- 

 est in other fish and also the number of cleaning 

 bouts in which they became involved. A clean- 

 ing bout is defined here as any cleaning activity 

 involving a discrete group of fishes, whether this 

 group includes one cleaner attending a single 

 fish, or several cleaners attending a cluster of 

 40 to 50 fish. On various occasions I also re- 

 corded the number of times that the cleaner 

 actually "picked" at the body of another fish, and 

 I)recisely at what point on the body this action 

 was directed. 



Study Areas 



Observations of cleaning symbiosis were made 

 at many locations throughout southern Califor- 

 nia, including the Channel Islands, and at the 

 Coronado Islands, Mexico. However, most of 

 the data were collected during concentrated work 

 at La Jolla, Calif. Here, three study sites were 

 established, each including an area of ai)()ut 

 100 m-, that lie on a line running northwest off- 

 shore from La Jolla Point. Moving away from 

 the beach along this line, the first station lies in 3 

 to 10 m of water about 200 m ofl'shore, the sec- 

 ond is in 20 to 25 m of water about 700 ni off- 

 shore, and the third in 30 to 35 m of water about 

 1000 m oflfshore. The sea floor at all three sta- 

 tions is rocky and irregular, with many crevices 

 and caves. Algae are not conspicuous at the two 

 deei)er stations, which are similar, but the rocks 

 supi)ort a heavy growth of gorgonians. On the 

 other hand, the nearshore region of the 3- to 1 0-m 

 station is richly carpeted with surfgrass, Phyl- 

 lospadix, and other parts of the inshore station 

 are forested by large kelps, particularly giant 

 kelp, Macrocystis, and feather-boa kelp, E(/re- 

 (/ia. However, these large kelps are sparse here 



in comparison to some areas nearby to the south 

 and elsewhere in California. Other details of 

 the ijrincipal study area will be inti'oduced as 

 they become pertinent. 



During all observation periods at the La Jolla 

 stations a record was kejjt of water temperatures 

 from surface to bottom, horizontal visibility, and 

 surge conditions. 



OBSERVATIONS 



GENERAL ECOLOGY 



Scnorita 



The seiiorita, which attains a length of about 

 250 mm, is one of the most abundant fishes in 

 the inshore waters of southern California, in- 

 cluding the Channel Islands. It occurs from the 

 shoreline to depths exceeding 40 m and is re- 

 corded from central California south to central 

 Baja California, Mexico (Roedel, 1953). An in- 

 habitant of water over rocky substrates and 

 among sea weeds, the seiiorita sometimes swims 

 singly, Vjut more often in groups of from a few 

 to many hundreds of individuals. Like other 

 labrids, it is strictly a diurnal fish, taking shelter 

 under cover at night. 



Food habits. — The senorita feeds on a variety 

 of benthic organisms from the surface of both 

 algae and rocks. It also feeds heavily in the mid- 

 waters, taking small organisms in the jilankton, 

 as well as forms that are attached to or encrusted 

 on drifting algal fragments. All this feeding 

 is accomijlished in a characteristic picking man- 

 ner, a mode of feeding well suited to its pointed 

 snout and the several long, curved canine teeth 

 that project forward at the front of each jaw. 



To determine the food habits of this fish in 

 the study area, 26 specimens. 110 to 195 mm 

 long, were speared randomly from the population 

 at large. None of these were cleaning when 

 collected. Food items in their stomachs, ranked 

 as percentage of each item in the entire sample, 

 were as follows: bryozoans encrusted on algae, 

 43 9f ; caprellid amphijjods, 32Sf ; fish eggs, S'^'r ; 

 gammarid amphipods, 2.5^^ ; unidentified crus- 

 tacean fragments, 4Sf ; and pelecypod mollusks, 



494 



