Male Cleaner Fish Punish Female Cleaner Fish When They Misbehave
By Matt J. Weiss, January 23, 2010 @ 07:25 AM (EST)
Source: BBC News
Here is another case of men behaving badly.
Anyone that's been diving in the tropics has seen cleaner fish and the not so uncommon cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus. For the most part these fish pick parasites off larger fish that patiently wait to be cleaned. Their parasite meal is usually sufficient, but sometimes the cleaner wrasse can't resist a mucous fill bit of the actual fish.
When this happens, naturally, the larger fish flees. Both male and female cleaner wrasse exhibit this behavior, but when females do it, they are sometimes punished by the males.
At first it was though that the male fish were sticking up for their clients, berating the females for doing the "wrong thing." Now, however, it is appears that the males do this because they are pissed off the females chased off their dinner, they couldn't care less about the well being of their client!
Anyone that's been diving in the tropics has seen cleaner fish and the not so uncommon cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus. For the most part these fish pick parasites off larger fish that patiently wait to be cleaned. Their parasite meal is usually sufficient, but sometimes the cleaner wrasse can't resist a mucous fill bit of the actual fish.
When this happens, naturally, the larger fish flees. Both male and female cleaner wrasse exhibit this behavior, but when females do it, they are sometimes punished by the males.
At first it was though that the male fish were sticking up for their clients, berating the females for doing the "wrong thing." Now, however, it is appears that the males do this because they are pissed off the females chased off their dinner, they couldn't care less about the well being of their client!
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