Abstract
The false cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus (Blenniidae), is known for its morphological resemblance to the bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus (Labridae). It has been suggested that A. taeniatus, which acts as a mimic, can easily bite the fins of other fishes that are deceived into requesting cleaning from it or allowing it to approach them. In fact, A. taeniatus frequently utilises benthic food items, such as damselfish eggs, the Christmas tree worm Spirobranchus giganteus, and the boring clam Tridacna crocea. Although geographical variation in the reliance on aggressive mimicry (fin biting) has been reported, the factors have not been determined. We hypothesised that one of the factors is the abundance of benthic food items. To examine our hypothesis, we compared the feeding behaviour of A. taeniatus at two locations showing contrasting abundances of benthic food items in Okinawa, southern Japan. The frequency of fin biting by the small A. taeniatus in Ishigaki Island, where S. giganteus and T. crocea were very rare, was significantly higher than that in Sesoko Island, where the two food items were abundant. We conclude that the importance of aggressive mimicry in A. taeniatus varies depending on local food conditions.
Highlights
The false cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus (Blenniidae), is known for its morphological resemblance to the bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus (Labridae)
By comparing the data obtained at Ishigaki Island with those from Sesoko Island[21], we examined the differences in the reliance on fin biting in the feeding behaviours of A. taeniatus and discussed the factors promoting geographical variation with regard to conditional feeding tactics
Our study revealed that the abundance of other food items underlies the geographical variation in aggressive mimicry behaviour by A. taeniatus
Summary
The false cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus (Blenniidae), is known for its morphological resemblance to the bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus (Labridae). The two functions of mimicry, i.e. protective and aggressive, have been suggested in the case of the false cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus (Blenniidae), which resembles the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus (Labridae)[1,17,18] This is the best-known example of mimicry among coral reef fishes, where cleaning symbiosis is common and widespread[19]. Comparing its food items and feeding behaviours with those of a congeneric non-mimicking blenny, Aspidontus dussumieri, which mainly feeds on filamentous algae and occasionally on S. giganteus but never bites fish fins, Kuwamura[17] concluded that the main function of the similarity of A. taeniatus to L. dimidiatus is protective mimicry. By comparing the data obtained at Ishigaki Island with those from Sesoko Island[21], we examined the differences in the reliance on fin biting in the feeding behaviours of A. taeniatus and discussed the factors promoting geographical variation with regard to conditional feeding tactics
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