Question

Cleaner fish such as wrasse live on coral reefs and remove parasites and dead tissue from their client fish, who often form what appears to be an orderly queue while they wait to be cleaned. Client fish are larger fish who may be tempted to eat the wrasse, especially when they remove parasites from their mouths (by climbing into the client's mouth - see picture), but they do not do this. What type of mutualism(s) is at work here? Select all the answers that apply.

A.	A habitat mutualism because the wrasse rely on the client fish to bring them resources

B.	A service mutualism because the wrasse are providing a service to their clients

C.	This is a trick question as this is not an example of a mutualism

D.	A trophic mutualism because the wrasse is gaining food from the exchange

Answer 1

The correct answer is Option B – “A service mutualism because the wrasse are providing a service to their clients”.

Mutualism is a type of Facilitative interactions which are common between various species. Mutualism is an action which is mutually beneficial to all the species that interact to produce the action. Mutualism is an exploitative interaction that may have costs. However, if the benefits outweigh the costs, mutualism is favored in evolutionary terms.

There are three basic types of mutualisms –

Trophic mutualism – This is the type of interaction in which one species helps another species obtain energy.

Habitat mutualism – In this type of interaction, a favorable habitat or shelter is provided by one partner species. The other partner may incur some additional benefits.

Service mutualism – Here, a particular type of service is provided to one partner, which may include activities like pollination, seed dispersal, defense, etc.