"Wash that for you?" If you were a fish living in the warm turquoise waters off the coast of Bonaire, you may not hear those words, but you'd see the shrimp sign language equivalent. It seems Periclimenes yucatanicus or Spotted Cleaner Shrimp is doing a booming business in the local reefs by setting up a fish washing service.
That's right, a Fish Wash. You'd be hard pressed to find a terrestrial Molly Maid with two opposable thumbs as studious and hardworking as this wee marine beauty.
This quiet marine mogel is turning out to be one of the ocean's top entrepreneurs. Keeping its host and diet clean and green, the spotted shrimp hooks up with the locals, in this case, local sea anemones and sets up a fish wash. Imagine if you will a car wash but without the noise and teenage boys. The currency down here is algae and parasites and the fish are happy to oblige.
The signage posted is the shrimps natural coloring. The shrimp sway their bodies and wave their antennae to attracts fish from around the reefs.
Wash on, wash off.
Once within reach, the shrimp cleans the surface of the fish, giving the fish a buff and the shrimp its daily feed.
