Blacksmith & Senorita behavior (So Cal)

[Nay]

No, this is not a question about guys with anvils and ladies with castanets. Sorry. But that would be fun.

I friend was diving Catalina at Rock Quarry this past weekend and saw schools of blacksmith ranging in size from 20-50 with a single senorita in the middle. I know that the senorita are cleaner fish and the idea of a group of blacksmith claiming their own cleaner fish is the only thing I could come up with but sounded too simple. Was is a hostage? A VIP?
I don't know if it was actively cleaning or being escorted. I'll ask.

thanks

 

[drbill]

You are essentially correct. You will often see "large" groups of blacksmith midwater concentrating about one or more senoritas, and then following when they break for cover. The blacksmith are soliciting cleaning from the senorita. Watch as the senorita (technically many of them are senors!) check the blacksmith out and pick parasites or dead and diseased tissue from them.

 

[Nay]

thanks, that's what I figured.
My dive buddies observed it as an escort, so they probably didn't watch long enough for the actual cleaning to happen.

 

[drbill]

You can also observe the senorita (and senors) clean garibaldi, but generally there is only one host garibaldi due to their territorial nature. You may see several senoritas clean them. Rock wrasse tend to clean halfmoon, although I've seen them clean garibaldi and other fish. Senoritas and young sheephead clean the giant sea bass in our (Catalina) waters.

 

[Nay]

They also clean me! I was trying to take a pic of a nudi and was totally concentrating on it when WHAM! something smacks my pinky. It scared me until I realized it was just a senorita 'cleaning' me.
Then I laughed at myself for being scared of a little fish.

I'll keep an eye out for the cleaning behaviors of the two wrasse species. Thanks

 

[BananaHammock]

Speaking of Senoritas I thought it a bit odd when diving off of redondo to see Schools of senorita numbering in the hundreds. This was off of a sandy bottomed submarine Canyon. Could they be migrating? Any thoughts?

 

[drbill]

It is not unusual to see huge schools of senorita this time of the year. I'm not sure if it is related to spawning behavior or migration, but it can be pretty impressive when you see them.

 

[Mo2vation]

The chicks and their BS guys are among my fav pics to shoot when I'm in the Park at Casio Pointe. Its dramatic - the flat black (kinda dark blue, really) crowd and one orange skinny chica fish in the middle... its like a dance. I love it.

I seriously sit and watch the fray whenever I see it. I've shot lots of them - one day I'll get the perfect shot of it.

---
Ken

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of the fun things I have done in the water is to hang head down and watch the Senoritas clean me. It's also a great way to practice neutral buoyancy.