Abstract
One of the most notorious examples of cooperation between different species happens in the cleaner-client fish mutualism. The best known cleaner fish species, the bluestreak Indo-Pacific cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus has been a model system to study the evolution of cooperation between unrelated animals and between distinct species during the last couple of decades. Given that the cleanerfish mutualism is well-established for behavioral studies of cooperation, it offered an outstanding opportunity to identify the link between cooperation, social cognition, and to undertake proximate studies, which were severely in need. This review surveys the current achievements of several recent studies, pointing towards the potential of the cleanerfish mutualism as a relevant model system for future accomplishments in neuroendocrine research.
Highlights
One of the most notorious examples of cooperation between different species happens in the cleaner-client fish mutualism
One rare example of cooperation between unrelated individuals in a non-human model happens in the cleaner-client mutualism between fish
The best-known example of a cleaner fish species, the Indo-Pacific cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus has been a model system to study the evolution of cooperation between different species for the last couple of decades
Summary
A few years ago, a manuscript by Soares et al (2010) proposed the main cognitive modules or building blocks of cooperative behavior as: (i) prosocial behavior; (ii) social recognition; (iii) social bonding; (iv) assessment of social environment; (v) social memory and learning; (vi) temporal discounting; and (vii) partner choice Building upon this previous description that aimed at general cooperative behavior, I identify the major specific cognitive dimensions present in the cleaning mutualisms (from the cleaner fish perspective, see Table 1), which represent behaviors that enable cleaners to coordinate actions to produce maximum pay-offs, to recognize and evaluate partners and the ability to respond appropriately (Soares et al, 2010). These dimensions are not mutually exclusive, for instance, they may function in dependence and may contribute asymmetrically to the regulation of cleaners’ behavior
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