Seeking service: How client behavior determines cleaning station clustering.

Area of Science:

• Marine biology
• Ecology
• Behavioral ecology

Background:

• Cleaner shrimp and reef fish form mutualistic relationships.
• Shrimp establish stationary cleaning stations, relying on fish clients for services.
• Fish movement patterns are crucial for locating and maintaining these stations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how fish movement behaviors influence the spatial distribution of cleaning stations.
• To model the impact of stochastic and directed fish movement on cleaning station aggregation.
• To understand the role of client fish behavior in shaping cleaning mutualism ecology.

Main Methods:

• Developed an individual-based model incorporating stochastic, taxis (gradient-following), and memory-based fish movement.
• Analyzed the influence of directed movement range versus random dispersal distance.
• Parameterized the model with empirical data on client fish visitation frequencies.

Main Results:

• Directed fish movement (taxis or memory) promotes spatially clustered cleaning stations when movement range exceeds random dispersal.
• Memory-based clustering requires memory range to exceed dispersal distance.
• Taxis-based clustering can emerge even when taxis range is less than dispersal distance.
• "Choosy" fish behavior leads to stronger station clustering than "Resident" fish behavior.

Conclusions:

• Client fish movement behavior is a key determinant of cleaning station spatial ecology.
• Directed movement strategies significantly influence the formation and clustering of mutualistic interactions.
• Understanding fish movement dynamics is essential for predicting partner encounter rates in cleaning mutualisms and other species interactions.