Controversial new research shows that a tiny, unsuspecting species of fish can pass a test that’s widely considered the gold standard of intelligence. As far as we can tell, only a few of the most ...

Before deciding whether or not to fight another fish, cleaner wrasse check their own reflection in a mirror and size themselves up. First, Taiga Kobayashi at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan and ...

Before squaring up for a fight, some fish check themselves out in the mirror to make sure they're big enough. This strange behavior was seen in bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus), who ...

Sometimes the best place to hide is right under everybody's nose. If you look like you are innocuous and you belong there, every so often you can get away with trouble. Animal mimics can resemble ...

Scientists often warn against anthropomorphism — the attribution of human characteristics to animals or even nonliving things. But it’s hard to resist the charm of Labroides dimidiatus, a species of ...

Change, an inevitable and natural aspect of life, is occasionally dramatic or surprising. Wrasses comprise one of the largest families (Labridae) of fish and are ubiquitous inhabitants of tropical ...

Cleaner wrasse perform a cleaning service for coral reef fish -- namely eating parasites off their customer's skin. However, what the females of some species actually want is to lure in clients and ...

Only humans and a handful of other primates will attempt to make peace between warring third parties. But now there is a new diplomat on the block: the cleaner wrasse. Cleaner wrasse (Labroides ...

Reef ecology Baby damselfish do better on coral reefs that are inhabited by other fish that keep them free of parasites, a new study has found. The findings are published today in the Royal Society ...

Imagine being submerged in the ocean. As one watches the flickering light penetrate the water, the dancing rays of light seem to make a beeline for the bottom of the ocean, pulling one’s curiosity ...

It’s not easy for fish to clean themselves, without limbs or digits to scrub those hard-to-reach places. Fortunately for them, coral reefs come with cleaning stations. At particular sites, an itchy ...