Bluestreak cleaner wrasse

About this species

The bluestreak cleaner wrasse is one of several species of cleaner wrasses found on coral reefs from Eastern Africa and the Red Sea to French Polynesia. Like other cleaner wrasses, it eats parasites and dead tissue off larger fishes' skin in a mutualistic relationship that provides food and protection for the wrasse and considerable health benefits for the other fishes. It is also notable for having potentially passed the mirror test.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Bluestreak cleaner wrasse”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 797 records
February: 1,575 records
March: 1,799 records
April: 2,629 records
May: 1,837 records
June: 1,494 records
July: 1,042 records
August: 1,000 records
September: 1,052 records
October: 1,247 records
November: 670 records
December: 471 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–23 m · Deepest record: 125 m

0–10 m: 3,141 records
10–20 m: 5,093 records
20–30 m: 1,628 records
30–40 m: 123 records
40–50 m: 36 records
50–60 m: 41 records
60–70 m: 8 records
70–80 m: 2 records
80–90 m: 4 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 7 records
24–26 °C: 38 records
26–28 °C: 133 records
28–30 °C: 471 records

Photos

(c) Susan Prior, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Charlène Selva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Monica Ventrice, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Cleaner wrasse, Blue Diesel Wrasse, Blue Streak, Bluestreak cleanerfish, bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Blue-streak Cleaner Wrasse, Bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Cleaner wrasse, Bridled Beauty, cleaner fish, Cleaner-fish, cleaner wrasse, Common Cleanerfish, Common Cleaner Wrasse, Gadfly Fish, Wrasse

Names in 8 more languages

German: Gewöhnlicher Putzerlippfisch
Spanish: Lábrido Limpiador Común
Filipino: Bunak, Mameng
French: Labre nettoyeur à rayure bleue, Labre nettoyeur commun, Nettoyeur à Bande Bleue, Poisson Doctère, Poisson Nettoyeur Commun
Japanese: Hon-somewakebera, Honsomewakebera, ホンソメワケベラ
Korean: 청줄청소놀래기
Thai: ปลาพยาบาล
Simplified Chinese: 半帶擬隆鯛, 柳冷仔, 漂漂, 藍倍良, 藍帶裂唇鯛, 裂唇魚, 裂唇鱼, 魚醫生

Other scientific names: Cossyphus dimidiatus, Fissilabrus dimidiatus, Labroides dimidatus

Similar species

Bicolor cleaner wrasse
Labroides bicolor
Black-spot Cleaner Wrasse
Labroides pectoralis
Blue Groper
Achoerodus gouldii
Blue Groper
Achoerodus viridis
Tripletail wrasse
Cheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head Parrotfish
Chlorurus microrhinos

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
17,952 open-data records from 1931 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.