Interactions with fishes of five species of Lysmata (Decapoda, Caridea, Lysmatidae)

Abstract

Species of Lysmata, commonly called peppermint shrimp, rock shrimp or cleaner shrimp; inhabit rocks, coral reefs, or shipwrecks from the intertidal zone to the continental shelf in tropical and warm temperate seas. At least 11 species have been reported to be cleaners: species that remove debris, dead or injured tissue, parasites, or fungi from a larger animal (the client, usually a fish) and are allowed by the client to do so without being attacked or harmed (C?t?, 2000). This behavior often is considered to be mutualistic: the cleaner receives a meal, and the client is freed from irritants or parasites. Limbaugh et al. (1961) divided cleaner shrimps into two groups the basis of behavior. One group contained species that usually were pair forming or soli tary, territorial, brightly marked, and tropical. These species tended to be dependent their for food, and displayed themselves to their hosts in a conspicuous manner. The other group, comprised of Lysmata californica (Stimp son, 1866) (as Hippolysmata calif ornica), contained shrimp that are gregarious, wandering, and omnivorous, not dependent its host for survival and not known to display themselves to attract fishes. This behavioral pattern was thought to be a more primitive type of cleaning behavior. C?t? (2000) distinguished be tween facultative cleaners, which obtain only a small part of their food by cleaning, and obligate cleaners, which obtain on average 85% of their food from client-gleaned items. Because the stomach contents of only a few reputed cleaners have been studied, this distinction is not very useful. Bauer (2004) distinguished between imperfect, transitional and highly evolved, or specialized cleaners. The first group, containing L. californica, Lysmata wurdemanni (Gibbes, 1850) and Lysmata seticaudata (Risso, 1816), has the same features as described by Limbaugh et al. (1961). These shrimp engage