CARR and ADAMS: CLEANING HABIT IN LEATHERJACKET AND SPOTTAIL PINFISH 



Table 2. — Data obtained from sieve fractionation and gravimetric 

 analysis of stomach contents of 31 juvenile D. holbrooki in 11-15 mm 

 size class. 



Sieve 



mesh size^ 



(Col. A) 

 Food item 



(Col. B) 



Portion of 



Sieve fraction 



attributable 



to food item 



(Col. C) 



Dry weight of 



entire sieve 



fraction 



(mg) 



(Col. D) 



Calculated 



w^eight 



of food item 



(mg) 



3.5 



3.2 



2.2 



1.6 

 1.3 

 0.3 

 0.3 



1.3 

 2.0 



<0.1 



0.4 

 0.9 

 0.5 



0.4 





Summarization of data: 



Food item 



(Col. E) 



Total 



dry weight (mg) 



(Col. F) 



Percent of 



total sample 



1 A No. 30 sieve (595 /i) also used in sieve series employed here, but it retained none of 

 the items consumed by 11- to 15-mm fish. 



Beebe and Tee- Van (1928) on specimens from 

 Haiti and by Springer and Woodburn (1960) 

 on specimens from Tampa Bay, Fla. Tabb and 

 Manning (1961) reported that this species (30 

 to 120 mm) in Florida Bay feeds heavily on 

 snapping shrimp and small pink shrimp in ad- 

 dition to fish larvae. With the exception of the 

 modest data presented by Randall (1967), the 

 literature is devoid of quantitative information 

 on the food habits of this common inshore spe- 

 cies. No prior reports have been made on this 

 species acting as a cleaner. 



Our quantitative determinations of the stom- 

 ach contents of juvenile 0. saurus (21 to 80 mm) 

 collected near Crystal River, Fla., show clearly 

 that this carangid passes through a stage in the 

 initial year of its development in which inten- 

 sive cleaning behavior is implicated. Food ma- 

 terials obtained from cleaning activities, espe- 

 cially caligoid copepods, account for 58 to 67% 

 of the stomach contents of fish 26 to 40 mm in 

 length (see Figure 1). Lesser amounts of such 

 material were present in fish outside of this size 

 range. Although no observations were made 



of Oligoplites actually engaged in cleaning ac- 

 tivities in the field, it is extremely unlikely that 

 any other type of feeding activity can account 

 for these results. If ectoparasites, such as cal- 

 igoid copepods, were readily ingested from the 

 plankton, then they would be expected to be com- 

 mon in the stomachs of the planktivorous stages 

 of other species of fishes in the area. We have 

 analyzed the stomachs of more than 6,000 juve- 

 nile fishes belonging to 18 species present in our 

 study area and, aside from a single Argulus sp. 

 found in the stomachs of one Orthopristes chry- 

 sopterus and one Menidia beryllina, have found 

 no ectoparasites or other indicators of cleaning 

 activity in species other than 0. saunis and D. 

 holbrooki. The only other reports of cleaning 

 behavior among the carangids are brief accounts 

 given by divers on the pilotfish (Naucrates 

 ductor) and young bar jack {Caranx ruber) 

 (Hass, 1953; Randall, 1962). 



Although many studies have been done on 

 various aspects of the biology of members of 

 the Family Sparidae, the literature contains only 

 one very brief account of an apparent cleaning 



1117 



