Medicine Man
Premium Member
I have a huge Mystery Wrasse that eats peps but has not bothered my cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp or 6 line wrasse. Must have distinguished taste.
Mystery Wrasse eat shrimp & fish!
- Thread starter jetboatjoe
- Start date
Is it possible the mystery wrasse will be less aggressive in a large tank? Did not see too many posts
indicating the size of tank the mystery was in.
I have a small juv in my 490g with about 10 shirmp in there and he has not shown any aggression. I am crossing my fingers that the larger tank combined with getting him young and small will deter him from going after the shrimp. Feed the tank daily and lots of food.
indicating the size of tank the mystery was in.
I have a small juv in my 490g with about 10 shirmp in there and he has not shown any aggression. I am crossing my fingers that the larger tank combined with getting him young and small will deter him from going after the shrimp. Feed the tank daily and lots of food.
Blitzburggirl
Member
Mine is in a 180
Gogandantess
New member
I'm pretty sure he attacked the cleaner shrimps until they died. For how pretty Mystery wrasses, harly tusks, cuban hogs, etc. are....they are too much of a risk with cleaner shrimps/all shrimps. I enjoy seeing my cleaner shrimps do their services to my other fish so I can't jump into buying those types of wrasses again.
Actually, they do nothing with parasites. There are various published articles about the subject including ones dealing with treatment of marine ich and marine velvet, both of which are unaffected by cleaner wrasses or shrimp.
nikon187
Active member
+1..
Back in my diving days, I would go to a cleaning station, take out my regulator and the shrimp would clean my teeth. But of course that is amusing more than informational. The research about cleaning involves analysis of the stomach contents which shows no parasites whatsoever. In any case ich is not on the surface even though it looks like it is. There was also research done as to why fish like to be cleaned and posture themselves in a manner which invites cleaning. Turns out fish like to be touched.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
It is a fascinating topic. How would we really determine that they "like to be touched" rather than "like to be cleaned"? That seems a mighty fine line given the limited linguistic abilities of our fishy friends.
I can try and look up the study. It was pretty rigorous scientific process if I remember correctly.
Well according to Dr. Alexandra Grutter: "Tactile stimulation while dancing prevents conflicts with predators.
In cleaning interactions, the classical question asked is why cleaner fish can clean piscivorous client-fish without being eaten. In 2004, we showed that cleaner-fish tactically stimulate clients while swimming in an oscillating ‘dancing' manner (tactile dancing) more when exposed to hungry piscivorous clients than satiated ones, regardless of the client's parasite load. Tactile dancing thus may function as a pre-conflict management strategy that enables cleaner fish to avoid conflict with potentially ‘dangerous' clients. How cleaner fish can tell a client is hungry, however, remains a mystery."
Further, it turns out that cleaners do eat parasites but not those that we would hope that they would.
"Cleaner fish prefer fish mucus over gnathiid ispods
A discovery in 2004 that changed the way we viewed cleaning behaviour was the finding that, when given a choice of gnathiids or mucus (offered on plates), trained cleaner fish surprisingly preferred the mucus. Since mucus provides valuable benefits to the client, this suggested that such a preference by the cleaner was in conflict with the client's needs, and supports observations emphasizing the importance of partner control in keeping cleaning interactions mutualistic. Another study showed they preferred parrotfish over snapper mucus, suggesting the degree of conflict between cleaners and clients may vary among client species. "
In cleaning interactions, the classical question asked is why cleaner fish can clean piscivorous client-fish without being eaten. In 2004, we showed that cleaner-fish tactically stimulate clients while swimming in an oscillating ‘dancing' manner (tactile dancing) more when exposed to hungry piscivorous clients than satiated ones, regardless of the client's parasite load. Tactile dancing thus may function as a pre-conflict management strategy that enables cleaner fish to avoid conflict with potentially ‘dangerous' clients. How cleaner fish can tell a client is hungry, however, remains a mystery."
Further, it turns out that cleaners do eat parasites but not those that we would hope that they would.
"Cleaner fish prefer fish mucus over gnathiid ispods
A discovery in 2004 that changed the way we viewed cleaning behaviour was the finding that, when given a choice of gnathiids or mucus (offered on plates), trained cleaner fish surprisingly preferred the mucus. Since mucus provides valuable benefits to the client, this suggested that such a preference by the cleaner was in conflict with the client's needs, and supports observations emphasizing the importance of partner control in keeping cleaning interactions mutualistic. Another study showed they preferred parrotfish over snapper mucus, suggesting the degree of conflict between cleaners and clients may vary among client species. "
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Fascinating. Thanks for taking the time, Mr. Snorvich. Nature is just so complex and amazing. Just when we think we've figured something out, new information comes to light. A good reminder to basically assume one is always at least a little bit mistaken.
Now where can I get a good plate of mucus around here?!?:bigeyes:
Now where can I get a good plate of mucus around here?!?:bigeyes:
