Labridae

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

Labroides dimidiatus

A dancing cleaner at reef stations

• Black
• White
• Cross-climate
• Subtropical
• Tropical
• Regional distribution
• Marine fish
• Fusiform
• Compressed cross-section
• Small
• Tropical fish

A brilliant sapphire-blue forebody and an unmistakable longitudinal black wedge make the bluestreak cleaner wrasse an indispensable resident across Indo-Pacific coral reefs. The bold black stripe originates at the snout, travels through the eye, and gradually expands across the flanks until dominating the entire caudal fin. Small terminal jaws feature thickened fleshy lips engineered specifically for delicate ectoparasite removal. Ranging from the Red Sea and East Africa across the tropical Pacific to the Tuamotu Archipelago, this small labrid establishes well-known cleaning stations atop prominent coral heads and reef crests, from the surface down to forty meters depth. Client fishes ranging from tiny damselfishes to apex sharks voluntarily visit these posts, adopting passive postures while the wrasse dances along their flanks and flutters inside open mouths and gill cavities. Its primary sustenance consists of parasitic gnathiid isopod larvae, copepods, and diseased skin mucus plucked directly from cooperative clients. Exhibiting protogynous hermaphroditism and sophisticated cognitive spatial memory, the species attains a maximum recorded total length of fourteen centimetres.

Sources: Australian Museum — Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus