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Cleaner fish: Tiny healers or hidden spreaders in coral reef ecosystems?


Reef "beauty salons" staffed by tiny cleaner fish aren t just for parasite removal they may also shape the microbial life of the entire ecosystem. A fascinating new study shows these bustling fish stations influence which microbes move around the reef, possibly helping or harming coral health. Cleaner gobies, it turns out, don t just offer spa treatments to their fish clients they may also serve as tiny microbiome engineers of the sea.

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