Labroides bicolor, Bicolor cleaner wrasse : fisheries, aquarium

Labroides bicolor Fowler & Bean, 1928

Bicolor cleaner wrasse
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Labroides bicolor   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Labroides bicolor (Bicolor cleaner wrasse)
Labroides bicolor
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/B. Alenda

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); bicolor: Named for its distinctive two-toned body colouration in terminal phase individuals.
More on authors: Fowler & Bean.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 40 m (Ref. 37816), usually 2 - 20 m (Ref. 27115). Tropical; 24°C - 28°C (Ref. 27115); 32°N - 32°S

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

Indo-Pacific: east Africa to Pitcairn (Fr. Polynesia); not in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Hawaiian Is.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 48636)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9 - 10; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9 - 11; Vertebrae: 25. This species is distinguished by the following characters: D X-IX,10-11; A III,9-11; pectoral-fin rays 13; procurrent caudal-fin rays upper 6-8 and lower 7-8; principal caudal-fin rays 7-8 + 7; circumpeduncular scales 20-22; body depth 3.7-5.1 in SL; head length 2.6-3.0 in SL; snout length 2.6-3.3 in HL; orbit diameter 5.2-7.1 in HL; orbit diameter in snout length 1.6-2.5; caudal-peduncle length 3.3-4.9 in HL; pored lateral-line scales 26-29; scale rows above lateral line 4-5, below lateral line 9-11; total gill rakers 12-13. Colouration: head and anterior body indigo to deep navy blue (silvery white to pale grey in IP); head with a horizontal stripe from upper lip to about vertical of anal-fin origin (highly attenuated or absent in TP); posterior body is yellowish green; caudal fin with black crescentic margin (Ref. 138889).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in lagoon and seaward reefs to at least 40 m. Territorial around prominent coral formations called 'cleaning stations' (Ref. 9710). Juveniles generally solitary and quite secretive in caves while adults may wander over a large area in search of other fishes with ectoparasites (Ref. 9710). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.

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))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 18 February 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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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 | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | 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=0.00490 (0.00203 - 0.01181), b=3.13 (2.92 - 3.34), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		4.0   ±0.67 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 (22 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Very high.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 93.7 [48.8, 170.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.653 [0.363, 1.290] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [15.3, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.109 [0.061, 0.194] g/100g; Selenium = 27.1 [12.9, 56.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 152 [44, 637] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.56 [1.00, 2.45] mg/100g (wet weight);