Cleaner Wrasse
Labroides dimidiatus
The reef's tiny dentist, barber, and parasite picker.
Cleaner Wrasses run busy underwater service stations where larger fish line up. They dart over each visitor, plucking parasites and loose skin from places fins cannot reach.
Find this SeaPal in the card gallery
From field guide to game table
Bring this Cleaner Wrasse home
See which ready-to-play decks feature this SeaPal. Try one in the simulator before you buy, or explore each full deck list.
Not currently in a ready-to-play deck
You can still find this SeaPal in the card gallery while planning your own custom deck.
Quick dive
Creature passport
- Home
- Indo-Pacific coral reefs with prominent rocks or coral heads for cleaning stations.
- Favorite foods
- Fish parasites, dead skin, mucus, and other tiny animal food.
- Size check
- Up to 5.5 in (14 cm) — about a pencil
Tell-your-friends facts
Four wonderfully wild things
- 1
Client fish pose with open mouths or spread fins to request cleaning.
- 2
Cleaners may even enter a large fish's mouth and gill openings.
- 3
A bold dark stripe advertises the wrasse's special job.
- 4
Cleaner wrasses can use gentle fin touches to calm impatient clients.
Ocean superpower
Built to be amazing
It earns safe meals by cleaning animals that could easily swallow it.
Junior scientist tip
What should I look for?
Find a slim fish with a dark lengthwise stripe at a busy coral station.
Grown-up research links
We used trusted science organizations to check this profile.