Name: Blue streak cleaner wrasse
Scientific Name: Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes, 1839)
Family: Labridae
Group: Bony fish
Class: Fish
Size: 0-10 cm.
Blue streak cleaner wrasses can be found in all coral reef habitats. Just as its name indicates, this fish cleans the bodies of other fish, removing parasites on which it feeds. Thus a mutual relationship is established, in which both individuals are beneficiaries. It is common to observe them in what look like true cleaning stations, occupied by a dominant male and his harem of females or by a pair of adults and a group of juveniles. If a male disappears, one of the females will substitute him, by changing into a functional male. At the Oceanário, it is common to see them venturing into the mouths and under the operculum of large groupers!
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Global Ocean
