Page 109 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep
P. 109

UNDERWATER



                                                                        VALET




                                                                          BLUE–STREAK


                                                                          CLEANER WRASSE






                                                                       It can be difficult for a fish to stay clean and healthy
                                                                       on a busy ocean reef. The reef has tiny animals called
                                                                       parasites that cling to fish to eat their skin and blood.
                                                                       The blue-streak cleaner wrasse is nature’s answer to
                                                                       this problem. It patrols a spot on the reef that other
                                                                       fish know well. When one of them visits, the wrasse
                                                                       greets its “customer” with a little dance, before nibbling
                                                                       away to remove its parasites and giving the fish a
                                                                       thorough grooming.




                                                                           AT A GLANCE

                                                                        •  SIZE  5½–8½ in (14–22 cm) long

                                                                        •  HABITAT  Coral reefs and lagoons, staying
                                                                           close to “cleaning stations”
                                                                        •  LOCATION  Red Sea and near coastlines
                                                                           of Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean
                                                                        •  DIET  Parasites and slime from the bodies
                                                                           of other fish





                                                                            4              STATS AND FACTS


                                                                                           NUMBER OF PARASITES EATEN PER DAY

                                                                            YEARS
                                                                         MAXIMUM LIFESPAN
                                                                                                             500      1,000   1,500
                                                                                                                    1,100–1,340
                                                                                           CUSTOMERS AT CLEANING STATION
                                 CLEANING THE GILLS
                                 The tiny cleaner wrasse gets food
                                 by eating parasites. Its client stays   CUSTOMERS PER DAY                 20     30      40    50
                                 still while the wrasse sets to work                                 20–50 species of fish per day
                                 over its body, sometimes going           100
                                 right inside the gills for a really
                                 deep clean.
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