Reef Aquarium Species Codexery

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

A reef cleaner with a dance and a stripe.

Last updated

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) is a small coral-reef fish that eats parasites and dead tissue off larger fishes' skin in a mutualistic relationship.[1] This fish typically reaches a length of 10 cm and is identified by a broad black stripe that runs horizontally along its side and through its eye, while its back and belly are white.[2] There is evidence that this species may have succeeded in the mirror test.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderLabriformes
  6. FamilyLabridae
  7. GenusLabroides
  8. SpeciesLabroides dimidiatus

Named by (Valenciennes, 1839)

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Bluestreak cleaner wrasse (CC BY-SA 4.0) · differs from this box at order: WoRMS AphiaID 219014 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2010

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Bluestreak cleaner wrasse and a personA 0.14 m long bluestreak cleaner wrasse drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.14 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.14 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

Where the bluestreak cleaner wrasse has been recorded

Where the bluestreak cleaner wrasse has been recorded168 mapped locations from 22,447 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Red Sea, French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Kermadec IslandsRed SeaFrench PolynesiaPacific OceanIndian OceanKermadec Islands

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (22,447 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 43 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

The white coloration on the body shifts to a vivid blue toward the front, and the black stripe becomes broader near the tail.[3] Juveniles are entirely black except for a bright blue line.[3] Cleaner wrasses typically occupy cleaning stations that are used by various social units, including a group of juveniles, a mated pair, or a group of females with one male.[4] When a client fish approaches, the cleaner wrasse performs a greeting dance by moving its tail up and down.[4]

What the specialist sources record

The Guardian reported in 2019 that the cleaner wrasse joined an elite handful of species to have passed the mirror test.[5] Sims (2013) conducted a genetic study that showed the species splits into two monophyletic clades, with Indian Ocean fish generally having stripe widths different from those in the western Pacific.[6] Two related species, L. pectoralis and L. bicolor, fell within the L. dimidiatus clade, suggesting the bluestreak cleaner wrasse may be polyphyletic.[6] At Marsa Bareika in Egypt's Ras Mohamed Nature Reserve, the bluestreak cleaner wrasse feeds on ectoparasites from fish such as the brown surgeonfish and white belly damselfish.[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bluestreak cleaner wrasse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Côté, I.M., "Evolution and ecology of cleaning symbioses in the sea", Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 2000, p. 311–355; Johnson, M.L., "High street cleaners", Biodiversity Science, 2012; Sims, "Cleaning up the biogeography of Labroides dimidiatus using phylogenetics and morphometrics.", Coral Reefs, 2013, p. 223–233; Kobayashi, "Cleaner fish with mirror self-recognition capacity precisely realize their body size based on their mental image", Scientific Reports, 11 September 2024, p. 20202; Kohda, "Cleaner fi en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Bluestreak cleaner wrasse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allsop, "Constant relative age and size at sex change for sequentially hermaphroditic fish", Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2003-09-01, p. 921–929 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Bluestreak cleaner wrasse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sims, "Cleaning up the biogeography of Labroides dimidiatus using phylogenetics and morphometrics.", Coral Reefs, 2013, p. 223–233 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Bluestreak cleaner wrasse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Froese, "Labroides dimidiatus", FishBase (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Devlin, "Scientists find some fish can 'recognise themselves' in mirror", The Guardian, 7 February 2019. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  6. Wikipedia, "Bluestreak cleaner wrasse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sims, "Cleaning up the biogeography of Labroides dimidiatus using phylogenetics and morphometrics.", Coral Reefs, 2013, p. 223–233; Sims, "Cleaning up the biogeography of Labroides dimidiatus using phylogenetics and morphometrics.", Coral Reefs, 2013, p. 223–233 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Bluestreak cleaner wrasse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunkley, "To clean or not to clean: Cleaning mutualism breakdown in a tidal environment", Ecology and Evolution, March 2020, p. 3043–3054; Dunkley, "To clean or not to clean: Cleaning mutualism breakdown in a tidal environment", Ecology and Evolution, March 2020, p. 3043–3054; Ros, "Does access to the bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus affect indicators of stress and health in resident reef fishes in the Red Sea?", Hormones and Behavior, January 2011, p. 151–158; Ros, "Does access to the bluestreak cleaner wrasse L en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bluestreak cleaner wrasse (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Labridae)

Siphonognathus Siphonognathus argyrophanes

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Elsewhere in Reef Aquarium Species

Coral beauty · AngelfishFlame hawkfish · Other Reef FishPajama cardinalfish · Other Reef FishEmerald crab · Shrimp, Crabs & UrchinsAcropora millepora · Stony CoralsFoxface rabbitfish · Tangs & Rabbitfish

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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