false cleanerfish facts

preview_player
Показать описание
The false cleanerfish (Aspidontus taeniatus) is a species of combtooth blenny, a mimic that copies both the dance and appearance of Labroides dimidiatus, a similarly colored species of cleaner wrasse. It likely mimics that species to avoid predation, as well to occasionally bite the fins of its victims rather than consume parasites. It is indigenous to coral reef habitats in the Indo-Pacific.
The false cleanerfish primarily lives in coral reef margins among the cleaning stations of the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, and are usually seen near such locations. With its territory primarily overlapping with its model fish, the false cleanerfish mimics both the appearance and occasionally the behavior of said fish.
One major difference in appearance between the false cleanerfish and its model is the location of the mouth. A. taeniatus has an underslung mouth, whereas the model has its mouth in the terminal position. Additionally, the false cleanerfish has a small set of teeth on the upper mandible, as well as enormous canines that protrude from its lower jaw and fit into sockets laterally on the roof of its mouth.
The false cleanerfish has been observed to mimic the unusual “dance” of the bluestreak cleaner wrasse by spreading its caudal fin and oscillating its posterior end up and down. By doing so, the false cleanerfish elicits the same posing behavior in client fish. Occasionally, however, rather than feeding on ectoparasites like the cleaner wrasse, the false cleanerfish will attack and attempt at tearing away portions of fin from the client fish. This typically occurs and is most successful with juvenile client fish, as adults have been evidenced to avoid or even indiscriminately attack cleanerfish, suggesting adult client fish remember being attacked.
Рекомендации по теме
Комментарии
Автор

How can you make a video about false cleaner and not show how you can tell them apart!!!????

bernard