the.com/wrasse
the reef's barber, dentist, and shapeshifter, working a cleaning station with zero appointments
means A wrasse is any of a large family of brightly colored, often elongated reef fish, many of which famously pick parasites and dead skin off other fish at established 'cleaning stations.'
from From Cornish 'wrach' (and its Welsh cousin 'gwrach'), meaning 'old woman' or 'hag' — the name English borrowed from the fishermen of Cornwall, perhaps for the fish's wizened, toothy look.
- gender swap
- Females flip to male when the boss dies
- cleaning crew
- They eat parasites off bigger fish for free
- sleep trick
- Some burrow in sand or wrap in mucus
- size range
- From thumb-sized to seven-foot humphead giants
- tool users
- Some smash shells against rocks to crack them
bluehead wrasse — thalassoma bifasciatum: caribbean reef fish that changes sex from female to male
cleaner wrasse — labroides dimidiatus: removes parasites from other fish on coral reefs across the indo-pacific
humphead wrasse — cheilinus undulatus: endangered giant wrasse weighing up to 400 pounds in southeast asian reefs