Hawksbill turtles visit moustached barbers: cleaning symbiosis between eretmochelys imbricata and the shrimp stenopus hispidus

Abstract

At the oceanic island of Fernando de Noronha, off northeast Brazil, we recorded the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) visiting cleaning stations tended by the barber pole shrimp (Stenopus hispidus). This seems to be the first record of cleaning symbiosis between marine turtles and shrimps. During their foraging on the reef flat, the turtles regularly visited and posed at the stations. The same stations were visited by a few species of reef fishes, which posed and were cleaned by the shrimps. We suggest that cleaning symbiosis between turtles and shrimps is widespread and went unrecognised due to the superficial resemblance between a resting turtle and a posing and cleaned one. Additionally, we submit a putative origin for the cleaning symbiosis between marine turtles and cleaner shrimps following a few simple behavioural steps. Key words: Marine turtle-cleaner shrimp association, cleaning symbiosis, origin of turtle-shrimp association, reef environment, Equatorial West Atlantic ResumoNas ilhas oceânicas de Fernando de Noronha, ao largo da costa Nordeste do Brasil, registramos tartarugas-de-pente (Eretmochelys imbricata) visitando estações de limpeza mantidas pelo camarão-palhaço (Stenopus hispidus). Este parece ser o primeiro registro de simbiose de limpeza entre tartarugas marinhas e camarões. Durante o seu forrageamento na planície recifal, as tartarugas visitavam e posavam nas estações regularmente. As mesmas estações eram visitadas por algumas espécies de peixes recifais, que aí posavam e eram limpas pelos camarões. Sugerimos aqui que a simbiose de limpeza entre tartarugas marinhas e camarões seja comum e difundida, porém passa despercebida devido à semelhança superficial entre uma tartaruga que esteja descansando e aquela posando e sendo limpa. Além disso, apresentamos uma origem putativa para a simbiose de limpeza entre tartarugas marinhas e camarões-limpadores, que segue etapas comportamentais relativamente simples. Palavras-chave:Associação entre tartarugas marinhas e camarões-limpadores, Simbiose de limpeza, origem da associação tartaruga-camarão, ambiente recifal, Atlântico Equatorial OcidentalBiota Neotropica v4(n1) -http://www.biotaneotropica.org.br/v4n1/pt/abstract?short-communication+BN01504012004

Cleaner shrimp are a sustainable option to treat parasitic disease in farmed fish

“…This supports the earlier conclusions, that S. hispidus is primarily nocturnal 29 , 40 – 42 . However, S. hispidus does clean fishes and turtles diurnally 43 , a behaviour which our results also support for the reduction of leeches. Diurnal cleaning by S. hispidus was suggested to be a function of changing light conditions 39 , but it appears that S. hispidus may prefer to prey on different fish ectoparasites diurnally or nocturnally, which may reflect more the behaviour of the clientele that have these parasites.…”

Cleaner fishes and shrimp diversity and a re‐evaluation of cleaning symbioses

“…Recent publications on marine turtles suggest that their epibiont burdens are a proximate cause of cleaning interactions with both fishes and shrimp (Losey, Balazs, & Privitera, ; Sazima, Grossman, & Sazima, , ), much like wounds and parasites on fishes are also a proximate cause of cleaning (Arnal & Morand, ; Bertoncini, Machado, Barreiros, Hostim‐Silva, & Verani, ; Foster, ; Grutter, ; Sikkel, Cheney, & Côté, ). Such turtles actively seek out cleaners and submit to them, to have their epibiont burdens removed, illustrating the importance of communication between client and cleaner to cooperate in a cleaning symbiosis.…”

Tracking hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) during inter-nesting intervals around Barbados

“…This behaviour, commonly seen at night (Blumenthal et al 2009;Stimmelmayr et al 2010), may facilitate buoyancy control at greater depths, allowing animals to make fewer ascents (Houghton et al 2003) and perhaps oVering protection from predation (Blumenthal et al 2009). If assisted resting sites also oVer thermoregulatory advantages or the services of cleaning shrimps (Sazima et al 2004;SchoWeld et al 2009;Stimmelmayr et al 2010), certain assisted resting sites may be preferred over others.…”