Female cleaner fish can judge when to cheat without getting caught

Female cleaner fish can judge when to cheat without getting caught

Source: newscientist

9/30/2021

Credit: Hans Gert Broeder/Alamy

Female cleaner fish are sensitive to what their partners can and cannot see while working on client fish. This means they may have theory of mind, a concept built on awareness of other’s perspectives, often associated with humans and other primates.

Cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) typically work in male-female pairs to “clean” client fish by eating their dead skin cells and skin parasites. The wrasse actually prefer to eat the mucus produced by these client fish, but the clients can react to this by terminating the relationship – leaving the cleaners without food.

This means a lot is at stake when a male-female cleaner wrasse pair work as a team. If one fish cheats by attempting to eat mucus while their partner is cooperating with the client, this may leave both fish without food. If a male cleaner fish knows his female partner has cheated, he will sometimes punish her by chasing and even attempting to bite her, says Katherine McAuliffe at Boston College in Massachusetts.

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
4251	Robot fish prototype leads school of real fish behind it	theverge	2012-02-24	US
4252	Royal fish returns after 46 years at sea	independent	2012-02-19	IE
4253	Fish hybridise themselves extinct in Alpine lakes	newscientist	2012-02-16	CH
4254	Marine Scientists Awarded Grant To Study Ciguatera Fish Poisoning	underwatertimes	2012-02-15	US
4255	First-time angler catches record-breaking fish in English Channel	metro	2012-02-15	UK
4256	Resident recounts the trip water takes from local hills to the ocean	VMS	2016-07-13	CA
4257	A Community Coming Together for Kokanee Conservation	bcfishn	2021-03-28	CA
4258	Salmon farms instigate open door policy for welfare inspectors	The Fish Site	2021-03-25	UK
4259	Reducing global warming matters for freshwater fish species	Radboud University Nijmegen	2021-03-15	NL
4260	Indiana angler catches record-breaking whitefish	foxnews	2021-03-22	US
4261	Missouri angler catches 112-pound invasive black carp	foxnews	2021-03-26	US
4262	Tribes Call on Biden, Congress to Remove Snake River Dams	Associated Press	2021-03-25	CA
4263	Fisherman in Ukraine reels in boy, 11, who got himself stuck on sheet of ice, video shows	foxnews	2021-03-24	UA
4264	Scottish fish farming companies given millions in grants despite huge profits	thenational	2021-03-14	UK
4265	Anti-Freeze Fish Of Antarctica Threatened By Climate Change	Underwatertimes	2012-02-13	CA
4266	Petition Seeks International Investigation Of Canadas Farmed Fish Operations	underwatertimes	2012-02-07	CA
4267	Calif. salmon return is encouraging	upi	2012-02-03	CA
4268	How the puffer fish gets you high, zombifies you, and kills you	gizmodo	2012-01-27	US
4269	Christiana Bradley And Teddy Carr Move Up Rankings In Floridas Bassmaster Southern Open	underwatertimes	2012-01-25	US
4270	Tourists plead ignorance of fishing laws	ODT	2012-01-13	NZ
4271	Fish Offspring Grow Best At Same Temperature As Parents	underwatertimes	2012-01-12	CA
4272	‘We caught a sea monster’: Florida fishermen reel in massive grouper	Global News	2021-02-18	US
4273	Lead used in fishing rod poses risk to Istanbuls Bosporus	DAILY SABAH	2021-03-15	TR
4274	Floridas New Invasive Species Is A 10-Foot Long River Monster	CBSMiami	2021-03-19	US
4275	Coroner frustrated; Canterbury dive death remains a mystery	NZ Herald	2021-03-12	NZ

170 of [218 - pages.]