Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse

Labroides dimidiatus

Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse

Labroides dimidiatus

Other Common Names
Blue Diesel Wrasse, Bluestreak Cleaner Fish

Connected Coasts

Other Common Names

Blue Diesel Wrasse, Bluestreak Cleaner Fish

At the Aquarium

Connected Coasts

Appearance

Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse have long bodies with round scales and thick lips.

Males and females are similar in appearance. Juveniles are black with a single blue stripe from the snout to the upper part of their caudal fin. Adults are bluish silver with a black stripe that spans from their caudal fin through their eyes.

Habitat

Subtidal reef flats and seaward reefs.

Diet

Crustaceans, ectoparasites and fish mucus.

Life History

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse are pelagic spawners, meaning they release eggs and sperm into the water. Fertilized eggs are transparent, spherical and buoyant. Once the eggs hatch they develop from larvae into juveniles. They eventually settle onto reefs where they become adults.

Bluestreak cleaner wrasse live in single-male, multiple-female social groups called harems. Males are territorial and the largest, oldest male dominates all the females in the group. The bluestreak cleaner wrasse has both female and male reproductive organs. Females are able to turn into males. All bluestreak cleaner wrasse are born female and only the largest and most dominant individuals become male to defend and control the harem. In the absence of the male, the largest female in the harem will become a male.

Their maximum lifespan is estimated to be 4 years.

IUCN Status

Least Concern

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse’s cleaning behavior is ecologically important, as it helps remove ectoparasites and injured tissue from other fish.

Found in the Indo-Pacific from southern and eastern Africa and the Red Sea to the Tuamotus in the South Pacific, and from southern Japan to the southern Great Barrier Reef and southwestern Australia.

At night the bluestreak cleaner wrasse will go into small holes in the reef, sometimes encasing themselves in a protective mucus cocoon.

The character Oscar from the animated film Shark Tale is based on the bluestreak cleaner wrasse.

Citations & Other Resources

Leu, M. Y., Y. C. Hsu, Y. H. Tu, P. S. Chiu, B. H. Yu, J. B. Wang, K. S. Tew, and P. J. Meng. 2022. Natural spawning, early development and first successful hatchery production of the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes, 1839), with application of an inorganic fertilization method in larviculture. Aquaculture 553:738056.

Myers, R. F. 1989. Micronesian reef fishes: a practical guide to the identification of the coral reef fishes of the tropical central and western Pacific. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Territory of Guam, U.S.A.

Nurul, A. A. N., A. M. Danish-Daniel, V. T. Okomoda, and N. A. Asma. 2020. Microbiota composition of captive bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes, 1839). Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 104:7391–7407.

Shea, S. & M. Liu. 2010. Labroides dimidiatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.

Triki, Z., and R. Bshary. 2021. Sex differences in the cognitive abilities of a sex-changing fish species Labroides dimidiatus. Royal Society Open Science 8:210239.

Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse

Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse

Other Common Names

At the Aquarium

Appearance

Habitat

Diet

Life History

IUCN Status

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

Citations & Other Resources

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