Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
Labroides phthirophagus
- Class
- Ray-finned fish
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 481
- Most observed in
- 🇺🇸 United States
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The Hawaiian cleaner wrasse or golden cleaner wrasse (Labroides phthirophagus), is a species of wrasse (genus Labroides) found in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. The fish is endemic to Hawaii. These cleaner fish inhabit coral reefs, setting up a territory referred to as a cleaning station. They obtain a diet of small crustacean parasites by removing them from other reef fish in a cleaning symbiosis.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Hawaiian cleaner wrasse”.