Tebbich S, Bshary R, Grutter A S
Max Planck Institute for Behaviour and Physiology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany.
Anim Cogn. 2002 Sep;5(3):139-45. doi: 10.1007/s10071-002-0141-z. Epub 2002 Aug 22.
Individual recognition has been attributed a crucial role in the evolution of complex social systems such as helping behaviour and cooperation. A classical example for interspecific cooperation is the mutualism between the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus and its client reef fish species. For stable cooperation to evolve, it is generally assumed that partners interact repeatedly and remember each other's past behaviour. Repeated interactions may be achieved by site fidelity or individual recognition. However, as some cleaner fish have more than 2,300 interactions per day with various individuals per species and various species of clients, basic assumptions of cooperation theory might be violated in this mutualism. We tested the cleaner L. dimidiatus and its herbivorous client, the surgeon fish Ctenochaetus striatus, for their ability to distinguish between a familiar and an unfamiliar partner in a choice experiment. Under natural conditions, cleaners and clients have to build up their relationship, which is probably costly for both. We therefore predicted that both clients and cleaners should prefer the familiar partner in our choice experiment. We found that cleaners spent significantly more time near the familiar than the unfamiliar clients in the first 2 minutes of the experiment. This indicates the ability for individual recognition in cleaners. In contrast, the client C. striatus showed no significant preference. This could be due to a sampling artefact, possibly due to a lack of sufficient motivation. Alternatively, clients may not need to recognise their cleaners but instead remember the defined territories of L. dimidiatus to achieve repeated interactions with the same individual.
个体识别在诸如帮助行为和合作等复杂社会系统的进化中被认为起着关键作用。种间合作的一个经典例子是清洁鱼裂唇鱼（Labroides dimidiatus）与其客户礁鱼物种之间的互利共生关系。为了使稳定的合作得以进化，通常认为合作伙伴会反复互动并记住彼此过去的行为。反复互动可以通过地点忠诚度或个体识别来实现。然而，由于一些清洁鱼每天与每个物种的不同个体以及不同物种的客户有超过2300次的互动，在这种互利共生关系中，合作理论的基本假设可能会被违反。我们在一个选择实验中测试了清洁鱼裂唇鱼及其草食性客户栉齿刺尾鱼（Ctenochaetus striatus）区分熟悉和不熟悉伙伴的能力。在自然条件下，清洁鱼和客户必须建立它们之间的关系，这对双方来说可能都代价高昂。因此我们预测，在我们的选择实验中，客户和清洁鱼都应该更喜欢熟悉的伙伴。我们发现，在实验的前两分钟，清洁鱼在熟悉的客户附近停留的时间明显比在不熟悉的客户附近停留的时间长。这表明清洁鱼具有个体识别能力。相比之下，客户栉齿刺尾鱼没有表现出明显的偏好。这可能是由于抽样假象，可能是由于缺乏足够的动机。或者，客户可能不需要识别它们的清洁鱼，而是记住裂唇鱼的特定领地，以便与同一个体实现反复互动。
