Cleaning by the wrasse Thalassoma noronhanum, with two records of predation by its grouper client Cephalopholis fulva

The Noronha wrasse Thalassoma nolonhanum was recorded cleaning 19 client fish species at Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, off north-eastern Brazil. The preferred clients were non-dangerous, mostly planktivorous species, whereas the potentially dangerous, predatory species were rarely cleaned. T. noronhanum acts as a cleaner in two distinct ecological situations, at and outside the cleaning stations, and attends different client species in each of them. Potentially dangerous clients were mostly attended outside the cleaning stations. Many attacks and two instances of predation on the cleaner wrasse by the grouper client Cephalopholis fulva were recorded. The attacks occurred on individual wrasses foraging near the bottom outside the cleaning stations. (C) 2000 The Fisheries society of the British Isles.56480280