Cleaning Station

The cleaning station is where fish go to get parasites picked off their body by juvenile fish, small wrasses, gobies or shrimp.  You may see a fish with its head up, fins out and mouth open, this is one typical position to signify that it is ready to be cleaned.  Many times you will see a moray eel or a large grouper sitting motionless, with its mouth open, while a shrimp or cleaner fish cleans the inside of its mouth.  A gentle shake of the grouper or eels head signifies to the cleaner that the cleaning is done and they both part ways, each having gained from the bargain.  One got a free bath and the other a free meal.

I watched with fascination once when I saw an eel being cleaned by a cleaner shrimp and then a few minutes later it was hunting over a rubble pile and ate a cleaner shrimp.  I don't know if it was the same shrimp that had cleaned him just moments before but it seemed strange how one minute the cleaner can be safely in the mouth of its hunter and a few moments later be its meal.

I love to observe cleaning stations and generally get so caught up in the behavior and interaction that I forget to take a photograph.  I found this cleaning station fascinating because of the variety of fish waiting to be cleaned.  I counted six varieties including blue tang, rock beauty, caesar grunt, blackbar soldierfish, trunkfish and graysby.  Notice the rock beauty (the yellow and black fish) with its head up in a typical cleaning position.  The blue tang is a little nervous because I am obviously too close.  It is getting cleaned by a yellow and blue juvenile spanish hogfish.  The trunkfish and graysby are at the bottom of the frame almost out of site.  This must have been one heck of good cleaning station for all the fish to queue up for such a long time to be cleaned.  Even as I got closer the desire to be cleaned seemed to be greater than fear of me.