Cryan Daniel M, Vaughn Kelsey M, Caves Eleanor M
Odum School of Ecology University of Georgia Athens Georgia USA.
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology Brown University Providence Rhode Island USA.
Ecol Evol. 2024 Dec 23;14(12):e70589. doi: 10.1002/ece3.70589. eCollection 2024 Dec.
We observed a novel, nocturnal cleaning interaction between a cleaner shrimp (Genus ) and the giant moray eel () on a lagoonal patch reef in Moorea, French Polynesia. Over the course of an 85-min foraging bout (recorded on video by a snorkeler), we observed three separate, stereotyped cleaning interactions between and a cleaner shrimp in the genus Urocaridella (which surveys of Moorea biodiversity previously visually identified as ). During these interactions, the shrimp would slowly crawl along one of the eel's flanks towards its head, enter its mouth, emerge on the other side of its head, then crawl back towards the reef along the eel's opposite flank, often causing it to jolt in response. On each of the visits, the moray spent roughly 9-12 min at the cleaning station and was observed being cleaned for a total of 62 s. Although this was a chance observation of only a few instances of cleaning, it may have several important implications for our understanding of the behavioral ecology of cleaning mutualisms, including (1) indicating potential temporal trade-offs between being cleaned and foraging in eels, (2) suggesting a degree of temporal niche partitioning among sympatric cleaner species and (3) updating our understanding of cleaner-client communication, given the nocturnal nature of our observations.
我们在法属波利尼西亚莫雷阿岛的一个泻湖斑块礁上观察到一种清洁虾（属）与波纹唇鱼之间新颖的夜间清洁互动行为。在一次85分钟的觅食过程中（一名浮潜者用视频记录），我们观察到波纹唇鱼与一种Urocaridella属清洁虾之间三次独立的、模式化的清洁互动（此前对莫雷阿岛生物多样性的调查通过视觉识别将其认定为）。在这些互动中，清洁虾会沿着波纹唇鱼的一侧慢慢向其头部爬行，进入它的口中，从其头部另一侧钻出，然后沿着波纹唇鱼的另一侧回到珊瑚礁，这常常会导致波纹唇鱼做出相应的颤动反应。每次观察时，波纹唇鱼在清洁站停留约9 - 12分钟，被清洁的总时长为62秒。尽管这只是对少数清洁实例的偶然观察，但它可能对我们理解清洁共生行为的行为生态学有几个重要意义，包括：（1）表明波纹唇鱼在被清洁和觅食之间可能存在时间权衡；（2）暗示同域清洁物种之间存在一定程度的时间生态位划分；（3）鉴于我们观察到的夜间行为特性，更新我们对清洁者 - 客户交流的理解。
