Common Cleanerfish, Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes 1839)


Other Names: Blue Streak, Blue-streak Cleaner Wrasse, Bridled Beauty, Cleaner Fish, Cleaner Wrasse, Cleaner-fish, Common Cleaner Wrasse, Gadfly Fish

A pair of Common Cleanerfish, Labroides dimidiatus, at Fly Point, Port Stephens, New South Wales. Source: Richard Ling / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
A cleaner wrasse with a pale head, a blue tail and posterior body and a broad black stripe along the sides. Juveniles are black with a neon blue stripe. Adult Common Cleanerfish are mimiced by the False Cleanerfish, Aspidontus taeniatus.

Video of a pair of Common Cleanerfish spawning 

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2017, Labroides dimidiatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/250

Common Cleanerfish, Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes 1839)

More Info


Distribution

Found in Australian waters from about Perth (Western Australia) to Sydney (New South Wales); also at Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) islands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and at Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the tropical and subtropical Red Sea and Indo-Pacific.

Feeding

Has a specialised diet of crustacean ectoparasites (especially gnathid isopods) and fish skin mucous from larger reef fishes. Common Cleanerfish attract 'clients' by performing a display dance, then swim along the surface of their host, removing parasites with their specialised mouth parts.

Biology

Like all wrasses, this species changes sex from female to male as they get older - all juveniles start life as females. Cleaner wrasses start their lives as females, and change sex from female to male as they grow. They occur in small haremic groups comprising a dominant male and up to 5 females. The group sets up a "cleaning station" in a prominent position such as a large coral outcrop, and larger fishes aggregate nearby to have crustacean ectoparasites removed. 
Studies have shown that when females are removed, the dominant male may pair up with another male, or with a male/female pair. In both cases, the subordinate male will undergo a sex-reversal and become female again.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Author

Bray, D.J. 2017

Common Cleanerfish, Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes 1839)

References


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Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37384028

Behaviour:Cleaner wrasse

Biology:Capable of changing sex

Depth:2-40 m

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:12 cm TL

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map