Abstract
The cleaner–client system among reef teleosts has received considerable attention in both wild and captive environments, but the spatially and taxonomically diverse associations between cleaner fish and elasmobranchs are less understood. Using remote video, we investigated interactions between giant manta rays (Mobula birostris) and cleaner wrasse at a seamount in the Philippines. Cleaning events occurred between 11:00 and 16:00 h on a seasonal basis and were constrained by current strengths and ambient water temperatures. The frequency with which giant manta rays interacted with cleaner fish varied on an individual basis. Blue streaked cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) and moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare) selectively foraged on manta rays’ gills and pelvis, with L. dimidiatus also demonstrating slight preferences for the pectoral fins. Cleaners’ foraging preferences may indicate ectoparasitic infections in specific areas of a manta ray’s body. The exclusivity with which giant manta rays visited a particular cleaning station on the seamount may be a response to the quality of services that cleaners provide there. Giant mantas’ fidelity to this site may also be attributed to localised concentrations of food that are available nearby. The seamount provides habitat that appears to be important to the life history strategies of the region’s giant manta rays.
Highlights
Seamounts are widely regarded as hotspots of biodiversity due to the unique oceanographic conditions that they generate (Morato et al 2010; Clark et al 2010) and have been identified as important staging areas for migrant marine megafauna (Worm et al 2003; Pitcher et al 2008)
SCUBA divers initially deployed remote video cameras using protocols described by Oliver et al (2011) at five cleaning stations (A–E) on Monad Shoal during a pilot study which ascertained that Station A was the only location on the seamount where giant manta rays could be observed interacting with cleaner fish
Giant manta rays are known to frequent cleaning stations in Mozambique, Ecuador, and Indonesia during the austral winter (Dewar et al 2008; Rohner et al 2013; Burgess et al 2016), and their seasonal fidelity to these sites has largely been attributed to increases in local productivity (Carleton et al 2001; Pitcher et al 2008) that is driven by oceanographic processes, including currents (Dewar et al 2008; O’Shea et al 2010; Jaine et al 2012; Rohner et al 2013; Burgess et al 2016)
Summary
Seamounts are widely regarded as hotspots of biodiversity due to the unique oceanographic conditions that they generate (Morato et al 2010; Clark et al 2010) and have been identified as important staging areas for migrant marine megafauna (Worm et al 2003; Pitcher et al 2008).
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