Cleaning interactions between the cleaner wrasse Symphodus melanocercus (Osteichthyes: Labridae) and brown meagre Sciaena umbra (Osteichthyes: Sciaenidae)

Abstract

Cleaning interactions between the wrasse Symphodus melanocercus and brown meagre Sciaena umbra are documented from observations whilst free diving on a shallow rocky reef in the central Mediterranean Sea. Cleaning events occurred at cleaning stations mainly during the morning and gradually decreased in the evening. The body parts mostly cleaned were the opercular region and the fins, possibly as gnathiid isopods preferentially attach to these areas.