Marine Species under Threat: Humphead wrasse | Napoleon wrasse

The humphead wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus, is a species of wrasse mainly found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It is one of the largest coral reef fishes and occurs patchily throughout much of the Indo-Pacific region. The fish is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, Napoleon fish and Napoleonfish.

The humphead wrasse has thick, fleshy lips, and a hump forms on its head above the eyes, becoming more prominent as the fish ages, hence its name. Males range from a bright electric blue to pale green, a purplish blue, or a relatively dull blue/green. Juveniles and females are red-orange above, and red-orange to white below.

This species reaches a maximum length of more than 2m and up to 190kg in weight but some males grow very large, with one unconfirmed report of a humphead wrasse that was 7.75 ft (2.29 m) long and weighed 420 lbs (190.5 kg). Sexual maturation of this species takes up to 5-7 years.

Humphead wrasse feed primarily on molluscs, fish, sea urchins, crustaceans, echinoderms, and other invertebrates, using their strong teeth. The species may be one of the few predators of the toxic crown of thorns starfish, boxfish and sea hares.

The humphead is found in the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to South Africa and to the Tuamoto Islands (Polynesia), north to the Ryukyu Islands (south-west Japan), and south to New Caledonia.