Loving concern is also evident in the animal kingdom. The great number of little “cleaner fish,” sometimes called “Doctor Fish,” is an example. At present, over 40 species have been designated as “cleaners.” These fish seemingly devote themselves to the removing of parasites and fish lice that could clog the gills of other fish and make them sick.

“More than this,” a cleaner fish “will nibble away at patches of fungi and bacteria which may be infecting the skin, and if the fish has been injured, it will eat away any dead flesh and thus clean up the wound,” reports the book Animal Partners and Parasites.

So you can see that these fish are very much like little “doctors,” sometimes even maintaining “offices” or “cleaning stations.” One “office” was observed serving over 300 fish during a period of six hours. Just imagine the picture: Fish waiting in line to be waited on, some “standing” on their heads or upside down as the cleaners work them over. All this “professional” treatment by the “doctors” and not one “doctor bill”!

How important is such cleaning activity? One of the top authorities in this field, Conrad Limbaugh, called it “a constant and vital activity.” He once removed all the known “cleaners” from a certain area and within a few days the number of fish had dropped drastically—eventually about all had left. And the few that remained “developed fuzzy white blotches, swelling, ulcerated sores and frayed fins.” All because the little “doctors” were gone!

Do the “cleaners” do it merely for the meal that they receive?

“None of them [the cleaners] appears to depend exclusively on the habit for its food.”

“Neither of these two fishes [two of the most zealous cleaners] is highly dependent on cleaning for food, and they can subsist on small crustaceans; both pick these from plants, the señorita [a type of cleaner fish] can also take them from the bottom and directly from the water.”

So they do not have to care for these other fish. Yet they do. Who could have designed such an efficient little cleaner—complete with bright colors to be easily identified, pointed nose and tweezerlike teeth? Who must have put such a living instinct into these little creatures? Only a loving, considerate Creator.

[Picture on page 12]

Sometimes big fish permit “Doctor Fish” (also called “cleaner fish”) to remove parasites from even inside their mouths