Communications Biology (Sep 2021)

Cleaner fish are sensitive to what their partners can and cannot see

  • Katherine McAuliffe,
  • Lindsey A. Drayton,
  • Amanda Royka,
  • Mélisande Aellen,
  • Laurie R. Santos,
  • Redouan Bshary

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-02584-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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McAuliffe et al. demonstrate that in the context of cooperative cleaning, wild-caught female cleaner wrasse are more likely to cheat when their partners are out of view. This provides evidence that cleaner wrasse possess a building block of theory of mind: sensitivity to what others can and cannot see.