Blue streak cleaner wrasse is one of the most important and popular species of ornamental fish widely distributed in the natural waters of tropical countries. It is commercially valuable both as ornamental fish and for controlling ectoparasites. These are small fishes of about 9- 14 cm size with blue to yellow colour dorsally, fading to white or yellow ventrally. There is a black stripe running from the eye to the caudal fin margin which widens posteriorly

Santhosh, B

Xavier, Biji

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343Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes, 1839)B. Santhosh and Biji XavierI D E N T I F I C A T I O NSource of image : RC of CMFRI, Vizhinjam Local names: Not availableMORPHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTIONBlue streak cleaner wrasse is one of the most important and popular species of ornamentalfish widely distributed in the natural waters of tropical countries. It is commercially valuableboth as ornamental fish and for controlling ectoparasites. These are small fishes of about 9-14 cm size with blue to yellow colour dorsally, fading to white or yellow ventrally. There is ablack stripe running from the eye to the caudal fin margin which widens posteriorly. Dorsal finhas 9 spines and 10-11 soft rays and anal fin has 3 spines and 10 soft rays. Maximum sizereported is 17 cm.Order : PerciformesFamily : LabridaeCommon/FAO : Blue streakName (English) cleaner wrasse344Prioritized species for Mariculture in IndiaP R O F I L EGEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTIONThis is a widely distributed species commonly found in the rocky areas and coral reefs in tropicalmarine waters of the Indo-Pacific region from southern and eastern Africa and the Red Sea to theTuamotus in the south Pacific and from southern Japan to the southern Great Barrier Reef andsouth-western Australia between 30° N - 30° S.HABITAT AND BIOLOGYCleaner wrasse usually dwells in nearshore area within a depth range of 1-40 m and temperaturerange of 24-28 °C. It is reported to be a monandric hermaphrodite but later it was confirmed to havesocially controlled sex reversal. The species lives in small groups with one male and few females. Malesare larger and more dominant than all females. This small group forms a cleaning station where allother fishes visit for cleaning themselves. They are quick and agile swimmers which can leap throughnarrow crevices and also through the mouth and gill opening of larger fishes. These fishes show diurnalbehaviour and in night they burrow themselves (for sleeping) till day light.345Cleaner wrasse is mainly carnivorous and feeds on external parasites. In tanks they can be fed withbivalve or crustacean meat. Spawning of this species is reported from Japan. Spawning season is fromMay to September. Eggs are spherical and will hatch within 30 h and larvae are 1.8 mm in size. Theyexhibit mating dance during courtship. Eggs and larvae are planktonic. Largest observed total length isnearly 11 cm. Individuals above 6 cm were observed to spawn. Sex change from female to maleusually takes place before they are 3 years old.P R O D U C T I O N   S  Y   S  T  E  M SBREEDING IN CAPTIVE CONDITIONSThere are few reports stating incidental breeding of this species. Bi-directional sex change has beenconfirmed for this species. Distinct pairing during breeding has been observed. They are pelagic spawners.Sex reversal is completed in 14-18 days. It is a monandric species, with sex change at approximately8.8 cm total length. Artificial breeding and commercial rearing of these are yet to be undertaken. Thereexists a huge demand for this species in the ornamental fish culture industry which is now met from wildcollection which has reduced the population of this species in the wild.   This species can be grown alongwith other cultured fishes in cages and pens to reduce the parasitic load.Reports are available from Japan on spawning. Spawning in L. dimidiatus included a pair of maleand female living within the male's territory. After the sequence of courtship displays, the pair rushedupward a few meters off the bottom, where eggs and sperm were released free into the water. Spawningoccurred mostly at the offshore fringes of the reef in a male's territory. The eggs were buoyant, colourlessand spherical measuring 660-690 µm in diameter, and contained numerous oil globules which joinedtogether later. The egg membrane was smooth, without any conspicuous structure, the yellow not segmentedand the perivitelline space narrow.LARVAL REARINGHatching took place 29-30 h after spawning. The newly hatched larvae measured 1.78-1.81 mmtotal length. The larvae were provided with Brachionus plicatilis as food.FOOD AND FEEDINGCleaner fish of all sizes mainly feed on gnathid isopod juveniles. Other items in their diet includescales, parasitic copepods and non-parasitic copepods. The number of gnathid isopods and scales in thediet increases with the size of the fish. Juveniles feed mostly on non parasitic copepods.346Prioritized species for Mariculture in IndiaGROWTH RATEDuring summer and autumn, juveniles grow very rapidly, whereas, in winter, growth is very less.Adults grow slower than juveniles.DISEASES AND CONTROL MEASURESThe cleaner fishes control the parasites of other fishes. Practically, no information is available on thediseases affecting this species in the wild. In ornamental fish culture tanks, disease incidents are very lessfor this species. It is ideal for keeping in broodstock tanks for controlling external parasites of large broodfishes.P R O D U C T I O N ,  M A R K E T  A N D  T R A D EPRODUCTIONInformation not availableMARKET AND TRADEThere is good market demand for this species, which presently is being met from wild collections. Thefishes are often caught by divers using small scoop nets and are transported in oxygen packed polythenebags. Nearly 87,000 numbers of Labroides dimidiatus has been imported worldwide from 1997-2002. Labridae contributes 6 % to the global trade and major countries which import are EU and UnitedStates.C H A L L E N G E S  T O    M A R I C U L T U R EThis species can be grown along with other cultured fishes in cages and pens to reduce the parasiticload, provided the habitat is supplemented with rocky areas or coral reefs. Basic research needs to bedone in India. Attempts are being undertaken in many countries for standardising the technology ofcaptive breeding and larval rearing.F U T U R E  P R O S P E C T SThere is a very high demand for this species in the ornamental fish industry. If standardising thetechnology for captive breeding and larval rearing is successful, it will pave the way for India to contributehigher quantities of Labroides dimidiatus to the internatitional ornamental fish trade.347S U G G E S T E D   R E A D I N GGopakumar, G. 2002. Marine ornamental animals collection, culture and conservation. Fishing Chimes,24 (9): 10-17.Grutter, A. 1996. Parasite removal rates by the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus. Mar. Ecol. Prog.Ser., 130: 61-70.Grutter, A. S. 1997. Spatio-temporal variation and feeding selectivity in the diet of the cleaner fishLabrodies dimidiatus. Copeia, 1997(1): 346-355.Grutter, A. S. 2000. Ontogenetic variation in the diet of the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus and itsecological consequences. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 197: 241-246.Grutter, A. S., Deveney, M. R., Whittington, I. D. and Lester, R. J. G. 2002. The effect of the cleaner fishLabroides dimidiatus on the capsalid monogean Benedenia lolo parasite of the labrid fish Hemigymnusmelapterus. J. Fish Biol., 61(5): 1098-1108.http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Labroides_dimidiatus/Froese, R. and Pauly, D. 2016. Labroides dimidiatus in FishBase. January 2016.Kuwamura, T. 1976. Different responses of inshore fishes to the cleaning wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus,as observed in Sirahama. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 23: 119-144.Kuwamura, T. 1981. Life history and population fluctuation in the labrid fish, Labroides dimidiatus, nearthe northern limit of its range. Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, 26 (1-3): 95-117.Kuwamura, T. 1984. Social structure of the protogynous fish Labroides dimidiatus.Publications of theSeto Marine Biological Laboratory, 29: 117-177.Kuwamura, T., Tanaka, N., Nakashima, Y., Karino, K. and Sakai, Y. 2002. Reversed sex-change in theprotogynous reef fish Labroides dimidiatus. Ethology, 108: 443-450.Nakashima, Y., Sakai, Y., Karino, K. and Kuwamura, T. 2000. Female-female spawning and sex changein a haremic coral-reef fish, Labroides dimidiatus. Science, 17: 967-070.Potts, G. 1973. The ethology of Labroides dimidiatus (Cuv. & Val.) (Labridae, Pisces) on Aldabra. Anim.Behav., 21: 250-291.Sims, C. A., Riginos, C., Blomberg, S. P., Huelsken, T., Drew, J. and  Grutter, A. S. 2014. Cleaning upthe biogeography of Labroides dimidiatus using phylogenetics and morphometrics. Coral Reefs, 33(1):223-233.Wabnitz, C., Taylor, M., Green, E. and Razak, T. 2003. From Ocean to Aquarium. UNEP - WCMC,Cambridge, UK, 66 pp.

Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes, 1839)

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Labroides dimidiatus (Valenciennes, 1839)

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