Quote Originally Posted by allan View Post
Wow, he likes to move doesn't he? Is that movement to prevent being a meal or is it just the way they have to swim at the rig to stay near it?
My guess is that since they clean parasites off of larger fish such as groupers, the conspicuous swimming pattern combined with the very conspicuous coloration is to attract the attention of larger fish to the ‘cleaning station’ that they set up. The fish lose both the coloration and strange swimming pattern when they switch their diet to sponges, tunicates and algae as late juveniles and adults.