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Cleaner wrasse
1
hr
FROM PROJECT REEF ED
Aim
© Great Barrier Root Marine Park Authority
• To investigate a mutualistic relationship on the reef.
You will need
• Snorkelling gear
•
Underwater slate and pencil
What to do
1. Snorkel along the reef edge until you find a cleaner station. Coral bommies
are likely areas.
2. Observe a fish being cleaned. What parts of the fish are cleaned?
3. Study the behaviour of the wrasse inviting the fish to be cleaned and the
behaviour of the fish receiving the cleaning.
(a) Record the movements of the wrasse before cleaning begins.
(b) Record the behaviour of the fish about to be cleaned.
(c) Observe the range and territory of the wrasse.
Concepts
Interrelationships
Symbiosis
Fish behaviour
Skills
Observing
Recording
underwater
Attitudes
Confidence in
making
observations
Interest in
natural
environment
and especially
in interrelatedness
of living
things
Questions to think about back on the beach
4. Did different species show similar behaviour before cleaning commenced?
5. What factors might influence the size and position of a station?
6. Comment on the role of the
wrasse
in the coral reef community.
Ideas for further things to do
7. You can learn more about the cleaner wrasse
by consulting the following
reference:
Behavioural ecology of cleaning fish.
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