Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse
Labroides dimidiatus
Also known as Cleaner Wrasse, Common Cleaner Wrasse, Bluestreak Cleaner Fish
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–81°F (24–27°C)
- pH
- 8.1–8.4
- Adult size
- 4.3 in (11 cm)
- Minimum tank
- 106 gal (400 L)
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Social
- Swim level
- Middle
- Difficulty
- Difficult
- Breeding
- Hard
- Rarity
- Common
- Reef safe
- Reef safe
- Origin
- Indo-Pacific and Red Sea
- Family
- Labridae
Overview
Very peaceful and tolerated even by aggressive fish because it is recognized as a cleaner. It is completely reef safe with corals and inverts. The problem is diet: it is specialized on parasites and fish mucus, has a high metabolism, and frequently refuses prepared food, so it has a poor survival record in captivity and often slowly starves. Best left on the reef unless you have a very large, heavily stocked mature system and a specimen already eating frozen food. Not a beginner fish.
In the wild
Ranges from East Africa and the Red Sea to French Polynesia on coral reefs, where it sets up cleaning stations that other fish visit to have parasites and dead tissue picked off. It needs an established reef with a lot of live rock and, critically, a large well-stocked fish community that gives it something to clean.
Good to know
A Labridae cleaner wrasse in the genus Labroides. It lives in a mutualistic relationship, eating ectoparasites, mucus, dead scales and dead tissue off other fish, and its cleaning behavior gives real health benefits to reef fish populations. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite that lives in harems where a dominant male controls a group of females.
Did you know
It performs a bobbing dance to advertise its cleaning services and is trusted enough to swim inside the mouths and gills of predators many times its size, safely picking off parasites without being eaten.
Where to buy
Some links may not be the exact species or variety.
- LiveAquaria Freshwater and saltwater fish, inverts and corals
- Saltwaterfish.com Marine fish, corals and inverts shipped overnight
- Biota Captive-bred marine fish, corals and clams shipped direct
…or ask your local fish store.
Appears in
Keeping Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse?
Track water tests, reminders and stocking fit.
Related species
Solar Fairy Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus solorensis4.3 in (11 cm)90 gal (340 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
Exquisite Fairy Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus exquisitus4.7 in (12 cm)90 gal (340 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
Lineatus Fairy Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus lineatus4.7 in (12 cm)90 gal (340 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Halichoeres chrysus4.7 in (12 cm)40 gal (150 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)
Flame Fairy Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus jordani3.9 in (10 cm)90 gal (340 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)
Scott's Fairy Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus scottorum5.1 in (13 cm)90 gal (340 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)