How do students hire students?

In the human world, it is not a good idea to peek at neighbors who are bathing, but in some fish species, their rude neighbor's scouting for information is of vital importance.

Fish that live in coral reefs are often clinging to parasites on the skin or thick skin because of dead cells. In order to keep the body healthy, they have to rely on small "guards" to poke away parasites and debris.

Hygienic fish are purging the skin of a client fish.Photo: Bryan Harry

Recent research has revealed that these "fish customers" choose their personal hygiene by watching them work for other fish.

Common hygienic fish species, the Labroides dimidiatus black, blue and yellow stripes can choose one of two options: either remove the parasite from the client's skin, or cheat and cup the guest's own mucus. - a much more delicious option.

But there is no punishment for scammers. The customers, in this study, are the Scolopsis bilineatus fish, rarely eating meat, even if they do it badly. Therefore, researchers have long wondered why the number of scammers is not crowded.

It is due to the "hiring" process and the "eavesdropping" of customers to choose the most reliable hygienists.

The researchers set up an experiment, where the customer could observe two toilets: one responsible child was beating the parasite cup to another guest, and the other was just hovering. near guests.

Recognizing this information, fish customers often choose to take care of students more carefully than those who play.

The study was conducted by Dr. Alexandra Grutter and colleagues from the University of Queensland.

T. An