Sixline as a cleaner?

[CarmieJo]

Do sixline wrasses ever function as cleaner fishes? I just glanced over at my tank and I thought it looked like he was cleaning my maroon clown.

[wwest]

i have a sixline and maroon as well. i often see then "kissing" each others side. i never thought about what they were doing because i bought them at the same time. that is a good question though. Maybe just maybe we will have 6 line maroon clowns lol :) j/k

[fat walrus]

yes, six lines are known to be part-time cleaners, not reliable though. almost all wrasses are cleaners at some stage of their lifespan.

[Rob]

many wrasses are known to be "cleaners'
however, from what i remember i dont think the sixline is one of them that is commonly referred to as a cleaner, in that they will pick fish clean.

[CarmieJo]

This was the first time I ever saw them do this.

[fat walrus]

yeah, they are not reliable as cleaners. some people say that any wrasse with unbroken lateral stripes are potential cleaners. some wrasses start out as cleaners when they are young....so that they have more purpose and are left alone by some predators.