Potential impact of coral reef condition on stress and cleaning behaviour of the Caribbean sharknose gobies Elacatinus evelynae.

Coral reefs are among the most diverse and complex ecosystems. However, these habitats are currently facing severe pressures due to climate change, costal development and coral disease, influencing life on coral reefs. Considering that the degradation of the coral reefs can asymmetrically impact all organisms, we here asked if coral reef condition variability would be associated with change in stress and cleaning behaviour in Caribbean sharknose cleaning gobies Elacatinus evelynae. This study was conducted across five different reefs of the Island of Curaçao. We found significant differences in reef condition, in fish communities, in numbers of cleaning gobies and cleaning stations (i.e., goby territories) across all our sampled reefs. Specifically, the gobies from Carmabi (the most degraded reef) showed simultaneously lower cleaning activity and higher whole-body cortisol levels compared to gobies from other reefs. Collectively, our findings suggest that reef condition status may be implicated to stress and behavioural output variation of cleaning gobies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]