Guides Fish Pick

Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse

Photo used by courtesy of
Hawai'i Coral Reef Network

Juvenile photo view from Keoki's Corner
Adult photo view from Keoki's Corner

• Common Name:Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
• Hawaiian Name:None Known
• Scientific Name: Labroides phthirophagus (Randall, 1958)
• Source Info:Debbie & Stan Hauter, and in reference to Fishes of Hawaii by Spencer W. Tinker

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Identification There are five Labroides species found in the Indo-Pacific region. The Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides phthirophagus) is endemic to (only found in) Hawaiian waters. This Wrasse has an elongated, compressed body. The head is tapering and bears a pointed snout with a small mouth and thick lips. It is a Wrasse species that is small, only reaching an average length of about 3.5 inches.

As you can see from the photo views, it is a very beautiful fish with its bright neon purple, black and yellow colors as an adult, and black with neon purple stripe as a juvenile. This combined with the fact that it is a cleaning species makes it a very attractive addition in an aquarium. However, it is a fish that we DO NOT recommend you purchase.

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Characteristics Most Wrasses burrow into the sand at night. This species usually forms a balloon-like, mucous cocoon, similar to those formed by Parrotfishes, and spends the night resting within it, but will burrow as well.

The name given to this fish explains exactly what it's function is, it "cleans" other fish, ridding them of parasites. When you are swimming the reef you will come across "cleaning stations" where you find other reef fish stopped for the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse to pick them over to remove any parasites they may have on their bodies or in their gills. When the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse is doing it's job, the pattern of swimming of this fish is of a dancing, flittering nature, quite unlike that of other Wrasses.

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Diet Because the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse's diet is mainly derived from its symbiotic relationship with other fish by eating parasites, this Wrasse does not do well in captivity. It is extremely difficult to get this fish to eat any other types of foods, and once the parasite food population is gone it results in poor health, and most likely death for the Wrasse.

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Notes From Your Guides This fish has such an important role on the reef we feel that if enough of them are removed it could cause an imbalance. At a cleaning station you usually find two or three Cleaner Wrasses working together. If you were to remove these Wrasses from that area, the other fish would no longer congregate there and they would no longer have the cleaning service provided them that they need in the wild, as parasites (ich) are a natural part of their ocean environment.

During our years of collecting Hawaiian fish, in the beginning we did collect and sell this fish quite often to customers who were dealing with ich outbreaks and wanted a natural remedy, not a chemical one. When we collected them we would find a cleaning station with three Wrasses, and then only removed one. This would still leave two at the cleaning station to continue with their valuable work. However, we came to understand the great importance this fish had on the reef and how diet sensitive it was and we discontinued the collection and sale of this species.

We give the Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse a Care Rating Level, because of its sensitive nature and specific dietary requirements. To learn more about the basic characteristics and traits of Wrasses, read our Wrasse Fish Family Profile.

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Starfish clipart from Debbi Rapp's Tropical Night's Images

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