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| Bluestreak cleaner wrasse | ||||||||||||||
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 Bluestreak cleaner wrasse
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| Labroides dimidiatus Valenciennes, 1839 |
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The bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) is a species of wrasse found on coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and much of the Pacific Ocean, as well as many seas, including the Red Sea and those around Southeast Asia. Like other cleaner wrasses, it eats parasites and dead tissue off larger fishes' skin in a mutualist relationship that provides food and protection for the wrasse, and considerable health benefits for the other fish.
Cleaner wrasses usually can be found around so-called cleaning stations. The bigger fishes recognise them as cleaner fish by looking at their color and movement patterns, and subsequently stiffen to be cleaned. A species of blenny called Aspidontus taeniatus has evolved this behavior as mimicry, in order to tear small pieces of flesh from bigger fish.
All cleaner wrasses start their lives as females. In a group of 6-8 cleaner wrasses there is but one male, the rest are females or juveniles. The strongest female changes its sex when the male dies, an occurrence known as sequential hermaphroditism.
Cleaner wrasses sleep in crevices between rocks or corals, covered in a slime layer that is secreted at dusk. In the morning these can be seen floating on the surface.
References
- Meulengracht-Madsen, Jens: (1976) Akvariefisk i farger, J.W. Cappelens forlag AS
- Labroides dimidiatus at FishBase
