The Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) is a small marine (saltwater) fish in the Labridae family of wrasse.
The Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse is a rectangular fish with a wide, long, black stripe on its side, from its eye to its tail. Its body is white. Its white body can change to bright electric blue.
It grows to 10-14 centimeters (4-6 inches) in length.
It is found in coral reefs and lagoons in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
It is a cleaner fish, eating the ectoparasites and dead skin from the body of larger fish. This is called a mutualistic relationship because the larger fish provides food and protection for the Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse and the Wrasse provides health benefits for the larger fish.
The Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse appears in small groups is an area called a cleaning station. Other fish that want to be cleaned, come to the cleaning station. The Wrasse does a dance as they move along the body of the larger fish to clean its body, gills, and sometimes its mouth.
The juvenile is black with an electric blue streak along its body.
Location of photographs: Parc Zoologique de Paris in Bois de Vincennes, France
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM