Bicolor Cleaner Wrasse

Found singly or in pairs at cleaning stations around prominent coral formations of lagoons and seaward reefs.

All cleaner wrasses start their lives as females. In a group of 6-8 cleaner wrasses there is but one male, the rest are females or juveniles. The strongest female changes its sex when the male dies, an occurrence known as sequential hermaphroditism.
Cleaner wrasses sleep in crevices between rocks or corals, covered in a slime layer that is secreted at dusk. In the morning these can be seen floating on the surface.
Cleaner wrasses are usually found around cleaning stations. The bigger fishes recognise them as cleaner fish by looking at their colour and movement patterns, and subsequently stiffen to be cleaned. This is a mutualist relationship that provides food and protection for the wrasse, and considerable health benefits for the other fish.

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