Abstract
There are three cleaning mechanisms utilized by intact caprellids separable by the body region being cleansed: antennae, mouthparts, and the remainder of the body. Antennal cleansing is a function of the first gnathopods and maxill'ipeds, mouthpart cleaning utilizes all of the mouthparts, and body cleansing relies solely on the first gnathopods. Behaviorally, filter feeders groom and feed approximately as much as predators, but filter feeders cleanse their entire body whereas predators primarily cleanse only both pair of antenna. The possibility that filter feeding was evolutionarily derived from cleaning activities is proposed.

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