Cleaner wrasses (Labroides dimidiatus) thrive in coral reefs around the world. But they’re more than just another pretty face ...

In the current study, the scientists observed new behaviors during a series of mirror test experiments, a widely used method ...

Cleaner wrasse have revealed a remarkable new side of fish intelligence. Marked with fake parasites, they used mirrors to inspect and remove the spots—far faster than seen in earlier tests. Even more ...

A small coral reef fish can recognize itself in a mirror. This discovery challenges long-held ideas about animal intelligence.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan have discovered a previously undiscovered behavior in cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus). When presented with a mirror, the tiny fish not only ...

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led team has demonstrated that bluestreak cleaner wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus) check their body size in a mirror before choosing whether to attack fish that are ...

Learn how cleaner wrasse used a mirror and even dropped food to test their reflections, a behavior linked mostly to mammals.

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 ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. For decades, self-awareness has been guarded as a very ...

If you're not really into salt-water tanks or don't spend a lot of time in coral reefs, there's still a high probability you may have heard of the bluestreak cleaner wrasse fish. Likely because last ...

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 ...