Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides phthirophagus) Care Guide
Labroides phthirophagus is a Hawaiian endemic cleaner wrasse; it feeds obligately on fish ectoparasites and is challenging to keep long term.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Labroides phthirophagus is a cleaner wrasse endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. FishBase records a maximum of about 12 cm total length. It is an obligate cleaner that picks parasitic crustaceans from other fishes and swims with a distinctive dancing-flitting motion.
Taxonomy
- Family: Labridae
- Genus: Labroides
- Scientific name: Labroides phthirophagus
- Common synonyms: Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse
Habitat
The species is endemic to the Eastern Central Pacific, specifically the Hawaiian and Johnston islands. It is a non-migratory, reef-associated fish recorded from the surface to about 90 m. Adults rest at night within a balloon-like mucous cocoon.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 300 L (79 gal)
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Specific gravity: typical marine range
- Lifespan: 8-15 years
Diet
Labroides phthirophagus is an obligate cleaner that feeds on parasitic crustaceans taken from other fish. Because this specialized diet is very difficult to provide in captivity, the species is considered challenging and suited only to experienced keepers.
Compatibility
It is a peaceful mid-water fish that coexists with a range of robust tank mates, which it cleans rather than competes with. Highly aggressive species that may bully it should be avoided.
Breeding
The species is oviparous, with monogamous mating patterns observed in both facultative and social forms. As in the genus, individuals are protogynous hermaphrodites.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least Concern (assessed 2009). It is not commercially fished but is collected for the aquarium trade.
Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse Breeding Guide (Labroides phthirophagus)
Overview
The Hawaiian cleaner wrasse (Labroides phthirophagus) is a member of the cleaner-wrasse genus Labroides, native to the Pacific. It is a cleaner fish that services larger client fish at cleaning stations, removing ectoparasites. Like the rest of its genus it has highly specialised feeding requirements that make it a challenging long-term aquarium subject.
Sexing
Cleaner wrasses of the genus Labroides are protogynous hermaphrodites organised into harems controlled by a dominant male. When that male is removed, one of the larger females changes sex to take over the territory. Because sex follows social rank, a fixed visual sex marker for an individual is not reliable.
Spawning Behavior & Trigger
Cleaner wrasses maintain cleaning stations and pair from within the harem to spawn. As oviparous reef wrasses they are pelagic broadcast spawners, releasing gametes into the water column so that fertilised eggs drift away as plankton. No captive spawning trigger is documented for this species.
Egg & Fry Care
Fertilised eggs are pelagic and hatch into planktonic larvae dispersing in open water. This larval phase is the central barrier to captive rearing, and there is no home-aquarium fry-rearing protocol for the species.
Common Challenges
The decisive obstacle is its parasite-and-mucus cleaning diet, which many individuals cannot replace with substitute foods, leading to starvation in captivity. This specialised feeding, the harem social system and the pelagic larval phase together rule out home breeding, and the species remains wild-caught.