# Cleaning station

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Location where aquatic life congregate to be cleaned

A *[reef manta ray](/source/Reef_manta_ray)* at a cleaning station, maintaining a near stationary position atop a coral patch for several minutes while being cleaned.

A *rockmover wrasse* being cleaned by *Hawaiian cleaner [wrasses](/source/Wrasse)* on a reef in Hawaii. Some *[manini](/source/Acanthurus_triostegus)* and a *filefish* wait their turn.

A **cleaning station** is a location where aquatic wildlife congregate to be cleaned by smaller organisms. Such stations exist in both freshwater and marine environments, and are used by animals including [fish](/source/Fish), [sea turtles](/source/Sea_turtle) and [hippopotamuses](/source/Hippopotamuses).[1]

The cleaning process includes, but is not limited to, the removal of [parasites](/source/Parasite) (both externally and internally) and dead skin from the client's body, and is performed by various smaller animals, including [cleaner shrimp](/source/Cleaner_shrimp) and numerous species of [cleaner fish](/source/Cleaner_fish), especially [wrasses](/source/Wrasse) and [gobies](/source/Goby) (*[Elacatinus](/source/Elacatinus)* spp.).

When a client approaches a cleaning station, they usually open their mouth wide or position their body in such a way as to signal that they wish to be cleaned. The cleaners then remove and eat parasites, dead skin etc. from their skin, even swimming into the mouth and [gills](/source/Gill) of any fish being cleaned. This is a form of [cleaning symbiosis](/source/Cleaning_symbiosis).

It has been hypothesized that predator clients recognize cleaners by specific physical traits, such as the pattern of their skin colors;[2] for example, cleaning *gobies* tend to exhibit full-body lateral stripes, unlike their non-cleaning counterparts, who tend to exhibit shorter lateral stripes;[2] in the case of fish, cleaners also tend to be smaller due to them usually being juveniles.[2]

Cleaning stations may be associated with [coral](/source/Coral) reefs, located either on top of a coral head or in a slot between two outcroppings. Other cleaning stations may be located under large clumps of floating seaweed or at an accepted point in a river or lagoon. Cleaning stations are an exhibition of [mutualism](/source/Mutualism_(biology)).

Cleaner fish also affect cultural diversity around coral reefs, since clients with larger home ranges can access and, thus, choose between, a variety of cleaning stations,[3] visitor clients sometimes traveling long distances to a particular cleaning station.[4] On the other hand, cleaning businesses have been damaged by predators disguising as cleaners in order to tear away scales or flesh of a victim.[3]

## Gallery

		- *[Stenopus hispidus](/source/Stenopus_hispidus)* (*banded cleaner shrimp*) on a *Xestospongia muta* (*barrel sponge*): The shrimp wait to remove external parasites and dead skin from visiting fish.

		- A *[parrotfish](/source/Parrotfish)* being cleaned by *Hawaiian cleaner [wrasses](/source/Wrasse)* (*[Labroides phthirophagus](/source/Labroides_phthirophagus)*) (photographed in 2005 in [Hawaii](/source/Hawaii))

		- A *[needlefish](/source/Needlefish)* being cleaned by *[L. phthirophagus](/source/Labroides_phthirophagus)*

		- A *[Hawaiian cleaner wrasse](/source/Hawaiian_cleaner_wrasse)* inside the gill of a *[pufferfish](/source/Tetraodontidae)*

		- An *[orangespine unicornfish](/source/Orangespine_unicornfish)* being cleaned by a *Hawaiian cleaner wrasse*

		- A *[rockmover wrasse](/source/Rockmover_wrasse)* gets cleaned by a *[Hawaiian cleaner wrasse](/source/Hawaiian_cleaner_wrasse)* while an *orangespine unicornfish* waits their turn

		- A *[goatfish](/source/Goatfish)* (*[Mulloidichthys flavolineatus](/source/Mulloidichthys_flavolineatus)*) at [Kona, Hawaii](/source/Kona%2C_Hawaii), being cleaned by two *[Hawaiian cleaner wrasses](/source/Hawaiian_cleaner_wrasse)*

## See also

- [Cleaner fish](/source/Cleaner_fish)

- [Cleaning symbiosis](/source/Cleaning_symbiosis)

- [Doctor fish](/source/Doctor_fish)

- *[Lysmata amboinensis](/source/Lysmata_amboinensis)*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hroch_2007_1-0)** Hroch, Tomas. ["Mzima Springs - Haunt of the hippo"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131112224209/http://eng.hrosi.org/?id=34). *eng.hrosi.org*. Archived from [the original](http://eng.hrosi.org/?id=34) on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Stummer_2004_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Stummer_2004_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Stummer_2004_2-2) Stummer, Laura; Weller, Jennifer; Johnson, Magnus; Cote, Isabelle (2004). ["Size and stripes: how fish clients recognize cleaners"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347204001058). *Animal Behaviour*. **68**: 145–150. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.10.018](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.anbehav.2003.10.018). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [53299983](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:53299983). Retrieved 10 October 2022.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Bshary_2003_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Bshary_2003_3-1) Bshary, Redouan; Schaffer, Daniel (2002). ["Choosy reef fish select cleaner fish that provide high-quality service"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347201919232). *Animal Behaviour*. **63** (3): 557–564. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1006/anbe.2001.1923](https://doi.org/10.1006%2Fanbe.2001.1923). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [53152241](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:53152241). Retrieved 10 October 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Grutter_2003_4-0)** Grutter, Alexandra; Murphy, Jan; Choat, J (2003). ["Cleaner Fish Drives Local Fish Diversity on Coral Reefs"](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982202013933). *Current Biology*. **13** (1): 64–67. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1016/s0960-9822(02)01393-3](https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fs0960-9822%2802%2901393-3). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [12526747](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12526747). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [15670411](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:15670411). Retrieved 10 October 2022.

- McGregor, Peter (2005). *Animal Communication Networks*. Cambridge University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780521823616](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521823616).

- Ryan, Frank (2002). [*Darwin's Blind Spot: Evolution Beyond Natural Selection*](https://archive.org/details/darwinsblindspot00fran). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0618118128](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0618118128).

- Hammerstein, Peter (2003). *Genetic and Cultural Evolution of Cooperation*. MIT Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0262083263](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0262083263).

- Bauer, Raymond T. (2004). *Remarkable Shrimps: Adaptations and Natural History of the Carideans*. University of Oklahoma Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0806135557](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0806135557).

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Cleaning station](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cleaning_station).

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