Nature leaves nothing out of the equation. Instead it is filled with ingenious ways to ensure that everything works together in a harmonious way to ensure the survival of all species. Nature not only ensures that material gets recycled; it has even set up ways to ensure that organisms get cleaned, at least the ones living in the ocean. Throughout the world's oceans, there are what have been termed cleaning stations. These are locations at which marine organisms can partake in a symbiotic relationship in which one type of organism will literally clean another.
At these cleaning stations, various types of marine life can gather together and do so each morning. Some of these organisms need to be cleaned and others will do the cleaning, which will provide these cleaners with food and nutrients. So who does the cleaning? Well, there are cleaner fish, the most popular of which are wrasse and gobies, and there are cleaner shrimp. These cleaner fish and shrimp clean parasites, bacteria, and dead skin from the scales, skin, mouth, and gills of other fish. The fish who want to be cleaned will show up and position themselves in some unnatural way in order to signal that they want to be cleaned. They may flare their gills or sit with their mouth wide open.
The cleaning needs to be done on a daily basis to help maintain the health of the reef ecosystem. During the night, as the fish sleep or rest in and around the reef there are parasites that are called ectoparasites. They attach themselves to the fish near the fins or gills and begin to feed. The cleaner fish and shrimp eat these ectoparasites off the body of the fish. Besides the food and nutrients that the cleaner fish and shrimp get from this interaction, they also receive protection. In fact, these organisms are left pretty much alone by the predators of the reef. They even go so far as to clean inside the mouths of sharks and swim out again in one piece, safe and sound. No other fish could get away with that!
It is suspected that the cleaner fish and shrimp sport specific colors and designs that tell other fish who they are. Otherwise how would the host fish ever know which fish would clean them and which ones they can eat? The fish tend to have blue and yellow colors and a striped body pattern, including a dark stripe along each side. Aside from the colors and patterns of the cleaner fish and shrimp, they tend to use bodily contact, caressing their “customers” with their fins, in order to help calm them. Not only does this keep the cleaner fish safe, but other fish that are at the cleaning stations, too. While one might think the cleaning stations would be the perfect place for predators to feed, it is in fact a safe haven and a refuge.
Divers can find cleaning stations on coral reefs in various locations around the world. The cleaner wrasse lives in reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and in the Red Sea and around Southeast Asia. The cleaner gobi lives in reefs in the Gulf of Mexico and around Belize. Cleaner shrimp can be found in the Indo-Pacific regions and in the Red Sea. Cleaning stations are generally either located at the top of a coral head or in the crevasse between two outcroppings of coral and they are popular sites for divers. The cleaner fish and shrimp are not picky about who they clean and if a diver takes out their regulator and opens their mouth the cleaner fish or shrimp will move right in and start cleaning. These organisms often pick dead skin cells off divers’ hands and face while they are swimming near the cleaning stations.
Cleaning stations are one of the most interesting and spectacular places to visit when reef diving. Being able to watch fish get cleaned and to be cleaned yourself is an amazing experience. The most important thing for divers to remember is to minimize contact with the creatures, allowing them to approach first. Also divers must ensure that they do not come into contact with the reef, which can result in damage to the reef and injury to the diver. The best thing to do is to sit back and watch the cleaning show, which is sure to be incredible and thoroughly entertaining.