Labroides quadrilineatus, Blue four-line wrasse

Labroides quadrilineatus (Rüppell, 1835)

Blue four-line wrasse
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Labroides quadrilineatus (Blue four-line wrasse)
Labroides quadrilineatus
Male Picture by Field, R.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Labridae (Wrasses) > Julidinae
Etymology: Labroides: Combination of the labrid genus Labrus and the Greek suffix -oides meaning ‘resembling’ or ‘to bear likeness to’, presumably referring to its similarity with the genus Labrus (or simply other members of the family Labridae); quadrilineatus: Name from Latin ‘quadri’ meaning ‘four’, and ‘linea’ meaning ‘line’, possibly referring to the four bright blue stripes (two on each side) in the juvenile and immature stages.
More on author: Rüppell.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 15 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Indian Ocean: endemic to the Red Sea basin, including the Gulf of Aqaba, extending southward to the Gulf of Aden, but not beyond into the wider Indian Ocean; photographed in the Gulf of Tadjoura off Djibouti.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 8883)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 10; Vertebrae: 25. This species is distinguished by the following characters: D IX,11; A III,10; pectoral-fin rays 13; upper procurrent caudal-fin rays 6-7, lower 7-8; principal caudal-fin rays 8 + 7; circumpeduncular scales 22-24; body depth 3.4-3.8 in SL; head length 2.6-3.3 in SL; snout length 2.4-4.2 in HL; orbit diameter 2.5-5.5 in HL; orbit diameter 0.6-1.9 in snout length; caudal-peduncle length 1.6-5.1 in HL; pored lateral-line scales 27-28; scale rows above lateral line 4-5, below lateral line 10-12; total gill rakers 12-14; lower lip U-shaped, its anterior margin ventrally furled, occasionally split medially; inner surface of upper and lower lips plicate. Colouration: juveniles and Initial phase with two electric blue stripes, posterior dorsal and anal fins with a conspicuous black ocellus; Terminal phase males uniformly navy blue with pale blue boomerang shaped stripe on cheek (Ref. 138889).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in fringing reefs, among coral heads and in areas with dense coral growth (Ref. 9710). Adults feed on coral polyps while juveniles act as cleaners of other fishes (Ref. 8883); client fish include Pseudanthias squamipinnis, Parupeneus macronemus (Ref. 138889).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Westneat, Mark | Collaborators

Tea, Y.-K., L. Baraf, Y. Menkara, W.B. Ludt, G.R. Allen, J.-P.A. Hobbs and P.F. Cowman, 2026. Cleaning up the cleaner wrasses: revision of the Labroides phthirophagus and Labroides bicolor species complexes, with rediagnosis of Labroides quadrilineatus and descriptions of two new species (Teleostei: Labridae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology v. 74: 403-443. (Ref. 138889)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 25 March 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.00977 (0.00462 - 0.02067), b=3.07 (2.89 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		3.3   ±0.61 se; based on food items.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low vulnerability (16 of 100). 🛈
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 113 [66, 198] mg/100g; Iron = 0.815 [0.459, 1.543] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [15.5, 20.6] %; Omega3 = 0.151 [0.093, 0.246] g/100g; Selenium = 20.1 [11.6, 37.6] μg/100g; VitaminA = 152 [46, 564] μg/100g; Zinc = 2 [1, 3] mg/100g (wet weight);