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To clean or not to clean: Cleaning mutualism breakdown in a tidal environment
Katie Dunkley1, Ashley J W Ward2, Sarah E Perkins1
1School of Biosciences Cardiff University Cardiff UK.
Ecology and Evolution
|March 27, 2020
Summary
Environmental variability can disrupt mutualisms. In a tidal lagoon, cleaner fish (Labroides dimidiatus) showed reduced cooperation and increased cheating, indicating a breakdown of this ecological interaction.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Marine Biology
- Behavioral Ecology
Background:
- Mutualistic interactions are crucial for ecological community structure but are vulnerable to environmental changes.
- The resilience of mutualisms to variable conditions remains unclear.
- Tidal atoll lagoons offer a model to study plasticity in mutualistic behavior due to extreme diurnal environmental shifts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cleaning patterns and mutualistic behavior of the bluestreak wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) in a tidally restricted coral atoll lagoon.
- To assess how environmental variability affects the stability and dynamics of cleaner fish-client mutualisms.
Main Methods:
- Observation of cleaning patterns of adult and juvenile Labroides dimidiatus in a tidal lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef.
- Quantification of cleaning behaviors, including client interactions and instances of 'cheating' (biting).
- Comparison of behaviors under tidally restricted conditions versus typical reef environments.
Main Results:
- Adult and juvenile bluestreak wrasses exhibited facultative, part-time cleaning, pecking on coral (Isopora palifera) under restricted tidal conditions.
- Adults showed altered foraging, wandering the reef for clients instead of using fixed cleaning stations.
- Juveniles displayed higher rates of 'cheating' (biting clients) compared to adults, suggesting exploitation of the mutualism.
Conclusions:
- Environmental variability in tidal lagoons can lead to the partial abandonment and breakdown of mutualistic cleaner fish-client interactions.
- Increased cheating and reduced cooperative behaviors indicate that unstable conditions may destabilize mutualisms.
- This breakdown of mutualism can have cascading effects on ecosystem stability, highlighting the impact of environmental change on ecological interactions.
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