Labroides phthirophagus, Hawaiian cleaner wrasse : aquarium

Labroides phthirophagus Randall, 1958

Hawaiian cleaner wrasse
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Labroides phthirophagus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Labroides phthirophagus (Hawaiian cleaner wrasse)
Labroides phthirophagus
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver

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); phthirophagus: Name from Greek ‘phtheiros’ meaning ‘louse’, and ‘phagus’ meaning ‘to eat’, referring to its diet consisting of external parasites of fishes.
More on author: Randall.

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

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory (Ref. 52884); depth range 0 - 122 m (Ref. 138889). Tropical

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

Eastern Central Pacific: Hawaiian Is., Midway Atoll, Johnston Atoll.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 12.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 583)

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 13-14; upper procurrent caudal-fin rays 6, lower 7; principal caudal-fin rays 8 + 7; circumpeduncular scales 18-20; body depth 3.3-4.5 in SL; head length 2.9-3.1 in SL; snout length 3.0-3.7 in HL; orbit diameter 3.9-5.1 in HL; orbit diameter 1.2-1.5 in snout length; caudal-peduncle length 2.4-3.9 in HL; pored lateral-line scales 25-29; scale rows above lateral line 3, below lateral line 9-10; total gill rakers 12-14. Colouration: head and anterior body bright yellow with a median lateral black stripe constricted to about origin of anal fin, expanding past this point toward outer edge of caudal fin; upper and lowermost edge of caudal fin magenta (Ref, 138889).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are found in most coral reef habitats except in the surge zone (Ref. 9710); maximum depth of occurrence at 122 m in Johnston Atoll and Hawaiian Is. (Ref. 138889). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Obligate cleaner (Ref. 9710), picks parasitic crustaceans from other fishes; client fish include Triaenodon obesus (Ref. 138889). Monogamous (Ref. 52884). They swim with a dancing-flitting motion. Adults spend the night resting in a balloon-like mucous cocoon.

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

Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205). Monogamous mating is observed as both facultative and social (Ref. 52884).

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: 04 February 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
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
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Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Eggs
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Larvae
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Distribution
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References

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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 | 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=0.00977 (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) 		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 (18 of 100). 🛈
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 89.9 [53.5, 169.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.749 [0.428, 1.399] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [15.7, 20.8] %; Omega3 = 0.196 [0.118, 0.323] g/100g; Selenium = 27.7 [14.9, 52.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 163 [48, 662] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.58 [1.04, 2.45] mg/100g (wet weight);