Cleaning symbiosis is one of the most iconic relationships between fishes. The cleaner picks parasites and diseased tissue from the body of so-called clients. Both parties benefit from this association: the cleaner obtains food and the client has unwanted organisms and material removed. Knowledge about cleaning interactions derives mostly from tropical and temperate reefs, although this relationship also occurs in fresh and brackish water. Cleaners and their clients in brackish water are the least known, mostly due to turbidity that precludes suitable observations. About half of the studies on brackish water cleaners come from aquarium observations, and studies in nature are scarce. I report here on cleaning by silver batfish (Monodactylus argenteus) juveniles in an Australian urban estuary. This cleaner holds stable or temporary cleaning stations and services clients as diverse as mullets, bream, pufferfish and catfish. The clients solicit the cleaner’s services by grouping and posing at the cleaning stations. When not engaged in cleaning the batfish pecks at periphyton, sometimes followed by a queue of clients. In addition to the description and documentation of cleaning interactions, I summarise here the knowledge about cleaners and their clients that dwell in brackish water. Ten cleaner and 16 client species sum up the knowledge about cleaning symbiosis in brackish water to date. I suggest that more instances of cleaning in this environment will come up from potential cleaners with further observational, natural history-oriented studies in estuaries under appropriate visual conditions, or aquarium observations.

清洁共生是鱼类之间最具标志性的关系之一。清洁工从所谓的客户身上挑选寄生虫和患病组织。双方都从这种关联中受益：清洁工获得食物，客户去除不需要的有机体和材料。关于清洁相互作用的知识主要来自热带和温带珊瑚礁，尽管这种关系也发生在淡水和微咸水中。微咸水中的清洁工和他们的客户是最不为人知的，主要是由于混浊，无法进行适当的观察。大约一半关于微咸水清洁剂的研究来自水族馆观察，而自然界的研究很少。我在这里报告银蝙蝠鱼 ( Monodactylus argenteus) 的清洁) 澳大利亚城市河口的幼鱼。这种清洁工拥有稳定的或临时的清洁站，为鲻鱼、鲷鱼、河豚和鲶鱼等各种不同的客户提供服务。客户通过在清洁站分组和摆姿势来请求清洁工的服务。当不从事清洁附生生物的蝙蝠鱼啄食时，有时会出现一排客户。除了清洁互动的描述和文档，我在这里总结了关于生活在咸水中的清洁工及其客户的知识。迄今为止，10 种清洁剂和 16 种客户总结了有关在咸水中进行清洁共生的知识。我建议潜在的清洁工在适当的视觉条件下，在河口进行进一步的观察，以自然历史为导向的研究，将在这种环境中提出更多清洁实例，