FISHERV BULLETIN': VOL, 69, NO. 3 



Lepeophtheirus sp.; the other senorita carried 

 a single Lepeophtheirus sp. Comparative data 

 were obtained by examining 16 senoritas. 114 to 

 160 mm long, that had been cleaning. Of these, 

 11, or nearly 10' r . carried copepod parasites on 

 their external body surfaces: 6 carried from 

 1 to 59 Callous hobsntii, 4 carried from 1 to 9 C. 

 seiratus, and 1 carried 3 Lepeophtheirus sp. 



Significantly, those senoritas carrying Caligns 

 hobso7ii all had been cleaning blacksmiths, those 

 carrying C. serratiis had been cleaning topsmelt, 

 and the one carrying Lepeophtheirus sp. had 

 been cleaning a garibaldi. Thus the ectopara- 

 sites found on cleaning seiioritas were in all in- 

 stances forms that also infest the species which 

 that particular seiiorita had been cleaning. The 

 occurrence of C. serratus is especially interest- 

 ing, because these seiioritas are the only fish 

 other than topsmelt found so far to carry this 

 parasite. 



Alerted to the phenomenon, I inspected the 

 bodies of many senoritas that incidentally passed 

 by during various phases of the work under- 

 water. Ectoparasites were evident on some, but 

 only on a small minority of the population. That 

 the vast majority are not infested by such par- 

 asites accounts for the observation, noted above, 

 that senoritas do not crowd around cleaners that 

 initiate activity in their midst, as do blacksmiths, 

 topsmelt, halfmoons, and others. 



On the basis of these data, and on the general 

 cleaning picture that has developed, I believe that 

 at least most of the senoritas infested with caligid 

 copepods are cleaners. Presumably they acquire 

 these parasites while intimately associated with 

 the former hosts during cleaning. That a given 

 cleaner is found to carry parasites similar to 

 those on the fish it has Ijeen attending, but no 

 others, is further evidence that cleaning by in- 

 dividual senoritas tends to be species-specific. 



Environmental Factors That Influence Cleaning 



Temperature. — As noted above, the numbers 

 of senoritas present at the 20- to 25-m station 

 fluctuated in an api)arent response to water 

 temperature, with the critical level at about 12° 

 to 13° C. Less cleaning occurred at lower tem- 

 peratures (Figure 9), which would be ex- 



liected with fewer senoritas present. Neverthe- 

 less, even considering the smaller numbers, the 

 senoritas present at lower temi^eratures seem 

 less active than those ])resent at higher temper- 

 atures. The eff'ect was striking on one occasion 

 at 25 m when, with an influx of warm water, 

 the temperatui-e rose suddenly from 11° to 

 14.5° C. No change was noted in the numbers 

 of senoritas present over this short period of 

 time, but where no cleaning had been seen dur- 

 ing a 20-min survey immediately before, shortly 

 after the temperature rise six different groups 

 of fishes being cleaned were in view simultane- 

 ously. 



Turbidity. — When the water is turbid because 

 of ])lankton or suspended sediment, there is no- 

 ticeably less cleaning activity than when the 

 water is clear. The fishes are generally more 

 wary, and remain closer to cover when visibility 

 is reduced. 



Surge. — When there is a strong surge, a fre- 

 (]uent occurrence, especially in water less than 

 10 m dee]), there is far less cleaning activity than 

 when the water is still. 



Day-night. — The seiiorita, a strictly diurnal 

 sijecies that takes shelter under cover at night, 

 does not clean after dark. 



n=6 "=5 



n 



FlGi'RE 9. — Number of sefiorita cleaning bouts seen dur- 

 ing each of 3.'! observation period.s, 15-25 min long, at 

 ilifTercnt water temperatures in an area 25 m deep at 

 La Jolla. Periods during which temperature fluctuated 

 were not considered, n = number of obser\'ation periods 

 at that temperature; where n > 1, value given is the 

 mean. 



510 



