12–15 blue lines across the top and sides of the body and a covering of numerous tightly packed red and purple dots, which are darker towards the tail. The eastern cleaner clingfish Cochleoceps orientalis, has red dots of a constant colour and blue lines which do not descend fully down the sides of the body. Both species are found in association with sponges, kelp or ascidians in relatively deep water. They are named cleaner clingfish because they sometimes cling to larger fishes such as morwongs and boxfishes, and pick off parasites living there.

• Max Size: 7 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 13.3-22.7°C
• Depth: 5-40m
• Habitat: Rocky Reef

• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Frequent (11% of sites)
  Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
• Abundance: Few (2 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.