| This
snapper isn't yawning, coughing or throwing up. Instead,
he's inviting the Spanish Hogfish in the foreground to clean him.
The distinct purple marking indicates that this is a juvenile Spanish Hogfish,
which is the only type which performs this cleaning role, which involves
removing parasites and dead tissue from the fish being cleaned.
This benefits both fish - the cleaner gets a meal and the cleanee leaves
as a healthier fish. As you can see, fish requesting this service
aren't at all shy about letting the cleaner fish into the most intimate
places; this same fish later opened its gill covers to allow the cleaner
to clean there, too.
I didn't realize that Spanish Hogfish performed
this role until I saw these two together. A number of fish,
particularly smaller wrasses and some shrimps, also act as cleaners, but
I hadn't seen any fish as large as this one do it. I found
out later that Spanish Hogfish are also members of the wrasse family. |
|