![]() ![]() The job of the cleaner fish is quite complex. Their cognitive abilities are also altered with the sex change. Each specimen is born as a female and only becomes a male when it is the largest individual in the group. The most surprising thing is that these animals change sex. The cleaner fish passed the test with similar results to those of monkeys.Īs is the case with the mammalian brain, the cognitive abilities of some cleaner fish vary by sex: males are better at some learning tasks and females at self-control. In order to eat the latter, the animal must be able to control itself and not take the immediate reward. In broad terms, it consists in giving an animal a choice between an immediate reward and another that takes longer, but is better. One study evaluated the cleaner with a test often used to assess this ability in animals: delayed gratification. No doubt about it: the cleaner fish, as the expert that it is, takes care of its reputation.ĭeveloping this behavior is no easy feat, as it requires self-control. In turn, when a cleaner is being watched by other fish, they tend to act more professionally than when no one is watching. Laboratory studies show that customers prefer the services of the cleaners that cause little twitching. Whenever clients notice their mucus being eaten, they shake their body this makes it easy for observers to detect if a cleaner is professional in its work or if it gives in to temptation too often. While the fish wait for their turn, they watch the cleaner work. ![]() The cleaners are usually in high demand, receiving up to 2,000 visits a day. However, there is a nuance that makes the relationship a bit more complex: the cleaner likes the customer’s tasty layer of mucus better than its parasites, but the customer hates having its precious mucus removed. It is the bluestreak cleaner wrasse ( Labroides dimidiatus), commonly known as the cleaner fish, a successful underwater entrepreneur who receives visits from numerous clients.ĭifferent species of fish come to its cleaning station to have their skin groomed, ridding themselves of the parasites it feeds on in a win-win encounter in which the customer gets spruced up and the cleaner gets to eat. In recent years, science has been paying increased attention to a peculiar reef-dwelling fish whose cognitive abilities never cease to amaze. ![]()
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