A Tale of Two Stations—Cleaner Fish at Cleaning Stations That Service Pelagic Clientele Exhibit Different Behaviour than Those That Service Local Clients

Cleaning, the removal of parasites and dead tissue from clients, is common in the Sea. Reef-based cleaning stations are visited by many fish clients, some by both resident and visitor pelagic species, while others are visited solely by resident species. Nonetheless, no distinction has ever been made between the potentially different cleaning stations. Here we describe two distinct categories of cleaning stations: pelagic cleaning stations (PCS) and residential cleaning stations (RCS). We suggest that the two station types differ not only in their clientele but also in the characteristics of their cleaning services. We examined the behaviour of the cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, at six cleaning stations on isolated knolls in Palawan, the Philippines—three stations that are routinely visited by pelagic manta rays (i.e., PCS), and three stations that service only resident clients (i.e., RCS). Our results indicate that PCS have more cleaners per station and that cleaners forage at greater distances from the station’s focal point. These distinct patterns suggest functional differences between pelagic and residential cleaning stations. Our findings may aid in the identification and conservation of shark and manta cleaning stations.