{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]],"date-time":"2025-12-17T13:04:34Z","timestamp":1765976674540,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,28]],"date-time":"2023-04-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1682640000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Ecol. Evol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>In marine interspecific cleaning mutualisms, small fish known as \u201ccleaners\u201d inspect the surface, gills and sometimes the mouth of \u201cclient\u201d reef fish, eating ectoparasites, mucus, scales and dead or infected tissue. These cleaner fish species share similar vivid coloration that makes them recognizable by clients. To gain insight on additional communication roles of cleaner fish color, we tested if differences in color among cleaner wrasse <jats:italic>Labroides dimidiatus<\/jats:italic> individuals captured from the wild are explained by sex, body size or parasite loads. We found that males were larger, heavier and tended to have more saturated blue tails than females. We also found blue color saturation to be positively correlated with size, and that this size-dependence explains the trend for the sexes to differ in color. Parasite loads did not predict individual differences in color, but fish in our sample were not heavily parasitized. Other color traits (including yellow color saturation and black color brightness) did not differ between the sexes and were associated with morphological differences. Size-dependence of blue color may thus suggest that it is a condition-dependent signal that could be used in various types of inter- and intraspecific social interactions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fevo.2023.1110079","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,28]],"date-time":"2023-04-28T05:59:38Z","timestamp":1682661578000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Not so monochromatic: Size-dependency of both sex and color in the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Sandra","family":"Trigo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Pauline","family":"Narvaez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Gon\u00e7alo C.","family":"Cardoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Marta C.","family":"Soares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"755","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1420-9101.2005.01059.x","article-title":"Phylogenetic relationships and evolution of cleaning behaviour in the family Labridae: Importance of body colour pattern","volume":"19","author":"Arnal","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Evol. Biol."},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00393035","article-title":"Length of larval life in twelve families of fishes at \u201cOne Tree Lagoon\u201d, Great Barrier Reef, Australia","volume":"76","author":"Brothers","year":"1983","journal-title":"Mar. Biol."},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2087","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2002.2084","article-title":"Biting cleaner fish use altruism to deceive image-scoring client reef fish","volume":"269","author":"Bshary","year":"2002","journal-title":"Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci."},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"563","DOI":"10.1201\/b10757-20","article-title":"New perspectives on marine cleaning mutualism","volume-title":"Fish behaviour","author":"Bshary","year":"2008"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"964","DOI":"10.1038\/nature07184","article-title":"Cooperative pairs of cleaner fish provide their clients with better service quality than singletons","volume":"445","author":"Bshary","year":"2008","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1006\/anbe.2001.1923","article-title":"Choosy reef fish select cleaner fish that provide high-quality service","volume":"63","author":"Bshary","year":"2002","journal-title":"Anim. Behav."},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1161","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/art043","article-title":"Cleaner fish coloration decreases predation risk in aggressive fangblenny mimics","volume":"24","author":"Cheney","year":"2013","journal-title":"Behav. Ecol."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1283","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2009.06.028","article-title":"Blue and yellow signal cleaning behavior in coral reef fishes","volume":"19","author":"Cheney","year":"2009","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1169","DOI":"10.1007\/s00338-012-0942-8","article-title":"Enhanced colonization success and competition associated with conspecifics in cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus juveniles","volume":"31","author":"Grutter","year":"2012","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1225","DOI":"10.1242\/jeb.026963","article-title":"A multifactorial test of the effects of carotenoid access, food intake and parasite load on the production of ornamental feathers and bill coloration in American goldfinches","volume":"212","author":"Hill","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Exp. Biol."},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.1996.0026","article-title":"Multiple displays in animal communication: \u2018backup signals\u2019 and \u2018multiple messages\u2019","volume":"351","author":"Johnstone","year":"1996","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.1007\/s00338-004-0411-0","article-title":"Cleaner fish become hosts: A novel form of parasite transmission","volume":"23","author":"Jones","year":"2004","journal-title":"Coral Reefs"},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2194","DOI":"10.1242\/jeb.025478","article-title":"Cleaner gobies evolve advertising stripes of higher contrast","volume":"212","author":"Lettieri","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Exp. Biol."},{"volume-title":"Communication between fishes in cleaning symbiosis","year":"1971","author":"Losey","key":"ref18"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1095-8312.2008.00989.x","article-title":"Parasite-mediated sexual selection and species divergence in Lake Victoria cichlid fish","volume":"94","author":"Maan","year":"2008","journal-title":"Biol. J. Linn. Soc."},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.1007\/s00114-016-1378-8","article-title":"A structural colour ornament correlates positively with parasite load and body condition in an insular lizard species","volume":"103","author":"Meg\u00eda-Palma","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sci. Nat."},{"key":"ref21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"jeb244469","DOI":"10.1242\/jeb.244469","article-title":"Cleaner fish are potential super-spreaders","volume":"225","author":"Narvaez","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Exp. Biol."},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1007\/s00227-021-03858-3","article-title":"Are cleaner fish clean?","volume":"168","author":"Narvaez","year":"2021","journal-title":"Mar. Biol."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1201\/EBK1578086856","volume-title":"Sexuality in fishes","author":"Pandian","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1140","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2011.05.021","article-title":"Cleaner wrasses Labroides dimidiatus are more cooperative in the presence of an audience","volume":"21","author":"Pinto","year":"2011","journal-title":"Curr. Biol."},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"250","DOI":"10.1016\/S0003-3472(73)80068-5","article-title":"The ethology of Labroides dimidiatus (cuv. & val.) (Labridae, Pisces) on Aldabra","volume":"21","author":"Potts","year":"1973","journal-title":"Anim. Behav."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1007","DOI":"10.1126\/science.177.4053.1007","article-title":"Social control of sex reversal in a coral-reef fish","volume":"177","author":"Robertson","year":"1972","journal-title":"Science"},{"volume-title":"A study of the ethology and reproductive biology of the Labrid fish,","year":"1974","author":"Robertson","key":"ref28"},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"251","DOI":"10.1006\/anbe.2001.1761","article-title":"Effect of changing harem on timing of sex change in female cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus","volume":"62","author":"Sakai","year":"2001","journal-title":"Anim. Behav."},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1890\/04-0232","article-title":"Restitution of mass-size residuals: Validating body condition indices","volume":"86","author":"Schulte-Hostedde","year":"2005","journal-title":"Ecology"},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e43088","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0043088","article-title":"What does carotenoid-dependent coloration tell? Plasma carotenoid level signals immunocompetence and oxidative stress state in birds-a meta-analysis","volume":"7","author":"Simons","year":"2012","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.3389\/fnbeh.2017.00191","article-title":"The neurobiology of mutualistic behavior: The cleanerfish swims into the spotlight","volume":"11","author":"Soares","year":"2017","journal-title":"Front. Behav. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1016\/j.anbehav.2003.10.018","article-title":"Size and stripes: How fish clients recognize cleaners","volume":"68","author":"Stummer","year":"2004","journal-title":"Anim. Behav."},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1583","DOI":"10.1111\/jeb.12676","article-title":"Are aposematic signals honest? A review","volume":"28","author":"Summers","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Evol. Biol."},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"379","DOI":"10.1006\/anbe.1998.0795","article-title":"Sexual selection, parasites and bower height skew in a bower-building cichlid fish","volume":"56","author":"Taylor","year":"1998","journal-title":"Anim. Behav."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104246","DOI":"10.1016\/j.beproc.2020.104246","article-title":"Cleaner blues: Condition-dependent colour and cleaner fish service quality","volume":"181","author":"Trigo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Behav. Process."},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"481","DOI":"10.1007\/s00265-014-1860-2","article-title":"What is the value of a yellow patch? Assessing the signalling role of yellow colouration in the European serin","volume":"69","author":"Trigo","year":"2015","journal-title":"Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol."},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"698","DOI":"10.1111\/faf.12198","article-title":"Cleaner fishes and shrimp diversity and a re-evaluation of cleaning symbioses","volume":"18","author":"Vaughan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Fish Fish."},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e21201","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0021201","article-title":"Long-term effects of the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus on coral reef fish communities","volume":"6","author":"Waldie","year":"2011","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"726","DOI":"10.1093\/beheco\/arl001","article-title":"Female-specific color is a signal of quality in the striped plateau lizard (Sceloporus virgatus)","volume":"17","author":"Weiss","year":"2006","journal-title":"Behav. Ecol."},{"key":"ref45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"915","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1439-0310.1968.tb00052.x","article-title":"Aspects of the ecology and ethology of the cleaning fish, Labroides phthirophagus Randall","volume":"25","author":"Youngbluth","year":"1967","journal-title":"Z. Tierpsychol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fevo.2023.1110079\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,28]],"date-time":"2023-04-28T05:59:44Z","timestamp":1682661584000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fevo.2023.1110079\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,28]]},"references-count":36,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fevo.2023.1110079"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fevo.2023.1110079","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-701X"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2296-701X"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,28]]},"article-number":"1110079"}}