Skip to main content
Napoleon Wrasse

Fish · Endangered

Napoleon Wrasse

Cheilinus undulatus

About

The humphead wrasse is the largest of the wrasses and lives chiefly on coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific. It also goes by the names Maori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse and Napoleonfish.

Family
Labridae
Avg size
150-200 cm
Habitat
The species occurs along the east coast of Africa near the mouth of the Red Sea and across parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Juveniles tend to stay in shallow, sandy areas bordering coral reefs, while adults favour deeper, more offshore reef zones, particularly outer-reef slopes and channels, as well as lagoons.
Behaviour
Adults typically frequent steep reef slopes, channel slopes and lagoon reefs at depths of 2 to 60 m (about 6 ft 7 in to 196 ft 10 in). A highly opportunistic predator, it feeds mainly on invertebrates such as molluscs (especially gastropods and bivalves), sea urchins, crustaceans and annelids, along with other fish and even toxic prey like sea hares, boxfish and crown-of-thorns starfish. Because many bivalves and urchins lie buried in sand, the wrasse may follow excavators such as stingrays or dig prey out itself by blasting jets of water to clear the sand.

Where & when

Where & When to See It

More Fish