Crimson cleaner fish
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| Suezichthys aylingi Russell, 1985 |
The crimson cleaner fish, Suezichthys aylingi, is a wrasse of the genus Suezichthys, found in a few coastal localities of New South Wales in Australia, and north east New Zealand including Three Kings Islands, in reef areas at depths of between 5 and 100 m. Its length is between 10 and 15 cm.
The crimson cleaner fish is a brightly coloured elongate fish of typical wrasse shape.
Their initial colouring is red-orange on the back and yellow on the head and belly with a series of crescent-shaped white markings on the belly scales. There is a distinctive black spot on the dorsal fin at the caudal end, and a large clear portion of the caudal fin.
Adult males are crimson on the back and belly with a lengthwise white stripe along each flank, blue lines on the head, and blue flecks on each body scale.
Adult females are a little less obvious, being orange with a white flash from the mouth to about halfway along the flanks when the white appears on less and less of each scale, finally disappearing. Her fins are translucent and there is the black dot on the dorsal fin, kept from infancy.
Each male crimson cleaner fish sets up a permanent territory of between 20 and 250 square metres that is vigorously defended. Within this territory a harem of up to 10 females is maintained. From June to December spawning takes place, the (all female) young settling out of the plankton in January and February. After two breeding seasons the females change to males, and have to compete with other males for territory. During this stressful period many males die.
Crimson cleaner fish are, as their name suggests, cleaners, and most spend much of their time removing parasites and damaged skin and scales from other fish. However, some only occasionally clean, and some never do. Also, those fish that do clean seem to prefer to clean only one family, or size, of fish. Non-cleaning fish feed upon small crustaceans from the bottom or from seaweed fronds.
[edit] References
- Suezichthys aylingi (TSN 614223). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 18 April 2006.
- "Suezichthys aylingi". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
- Wade Doak, A Photographic Guide to Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 2003) ISBN 1-877246-95-6
