Bluestreak cleaner wrasse
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A bluestreak cleaner wrasse that became male can change back into a female.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Bluestreak cleaner wrasse
- Scientific name
- Labroides dimidiatus
- Japanese name
- ホンソメワケベラ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Labriformes
- Family
- Labridae
- Genus
- Labroides
A wrasse of coral reefs and shallow rocky areas. A male holds a territory and forms a harem with several females.
It is a “cleaner fish” that eats parasites and damaged skin from the bodies and gills of other fish. It invites fish over with a dance.
When the male is gone, the female that is bigger and stronger than the rest changes sex and becomes the male.
How the Bluestreak cleaner wrasse lives
It is active during the day. It also enters larger fishes’ mouths to clean them. When it gets dark, it burrows into sand and makes a mucus envelope, staying there until sunrise.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Total length: 12 cm葛西臨海水族園
- Active
- By day (diurnal)University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Parasites and old skin on the bodies and gills of other fish葛西臨海水族園
- Range
- South of Chiba Prefecture, Indian Ocean, and central Pacific葛西臨海水族園
Where the Bluestreak cleaner wrasse has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ホンソメワケベラ
- 简体中文
- 裂唇鱼
- 繁體中文
- 裂唇魚
- 한국어
- 청줄청소놀래기
- Español
- Lábrido Limpiador Común
- Français
- Nettoyeur à bande bleue
- Deutsch
- Gewöhnlicher Putzerlippfisch
- Português (Brasil)
- Bodião-limpador
- Italiano
- Labride pulitore
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Ikan dokter
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá dọn vệ sinh sọc lam
- Русский
- Голубой губанчик
- ไทย
- ปลาพยาบาล
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 葛西臨海水族園 — ホンソメワケベラChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Labroides dimidiatusChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Bluestreak cleaner wrasse, look for this
- Look for the black stripe from its snout to its tail.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Bluestreak cleaner wrasse
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
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