| The Punishment Must Fit The Crime--Even For Hermaphroditic | |
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Source: underwatertimes |
6/15/2011 |
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Telling your partner to watch her weight is not recommended-unless you're a male cleaner fish, reports a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Cleaner fish feed in male-female pairs by removing parasites from larger 'client' fish. While providing this cleaning service, cleaners may get greedy and bite clients rather than sticking to parasites. This cheating by cleaners causes mealtimes to come to an abrupt end as the disgruntled client fish swims off. Females that bite clients receive aggressive punishment from their male partners for such greedy behavior.
Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and a number of other leading scientific institutions have now shown that male fish lose more than just a meal from their partner's big appetite – they also risk the female becoming so large that she will turn into a rival male. |
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Cleaner fish live in groups led by one dominant male with a harem of up to 16 females. All cleaner fish are born female and turn into males when they become the biggest fish in their group. A male cleaner fish usually partners with the biggest female fish in the harem for cleaning duties.
"Our research shows that male cleaner fish are sensitive to their female partner's size. One reason for keeping a cheating female in check may be to stop her eating too much and then challenging his position as the dominant male on the reef," says Dr Nichola Raihani, lead author from ZSL.
The research also shows that the male cleaner fish distinguish between high and low value meals and will punish the female more severely if she drives off a high-value client. |
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