What is Cleaner fish?
[[Image:Epinephelus tukula is cleaned by two Labroides dimidiatus.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The cleaner wrasse ''Labroides dimidiatus'' removing dead skin and external parasites from the [[grouper]] ''Epinephelus tukula''.]] '''Cleaner fish''' are [[fish]] that provide a service to other fish species by removing dead [[skin]] and [[ectoparasite]]s.<ref>Curry O. 2005. [http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/441/1/curryphd.pdf Morality as natural history]{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. University of London Ph.D. dissertation. Accessed 2009-06-08.</ref> This is an example of [[mutualism]], an ecological interaction that benefits both parties. A wide variety of fishes show cleaning behaviors. They include [[wrasse]], [[cichlid]]s, [[catfish]], and [[goby|gobies]], as well as by a number of different species of cleaner [[shrimp]]. There is also at least one predatory [[Mimicry#Aggressive mimicry|mimic]], the sabre-toothed [[blenny]]. It mimics cleaner fish but in fact bites off pieces of fin. == References == {{Reflist}} [[Category:Ray-finned fish]]