Humphead Wrasse

The humphead wrasse, also known as the Napoleon wrasse, is the largest member of the wrasse family and one of the most recognizable fish on Indo-Pacific coral reefs. Adults, particularly older males, develop a prominent bulging hump on the forehead and can exceed a meter and a half in length. As a protogynous hermaphrodite, individuals typically begin life as females and some later transform into large, dominant males. Slow-growing and long-lived, humphead wrasse can live for several decades. They play an important ecological role as one of the few predators capable of eating toxic prey such as crown-of-thorns starfish, helping to regulate outbreaks that can devastate coral reefs. The species is listed as endangered due to overfishing.

• Very large, robust body reaching well over a meter in length, dwarfing most other reef fish
• Blue-green to blue-gray coloration with fine, maze-like turquoise or greenish lines across the face
• Pronounced bulbous forehead hump in mature adults, especially large males
• Thick, fleshy lips and a somewhat elongated snout
• Two black lines running from the eye toward the pectoral fin base
• Juveniles are smaller, more slender, and lack the developed hump, with simpler coloration
• Distinguished from all other wrasses by sheer size and the pronounced adult forehead hump

Humphead wrasse inhabit coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to the central Pacific, including reef slopes, drop-offs, lagoons, and channels. They are typically found at depths from a few meters down to around 60 meters, often near steep drop-offs, caves, and areas of high coral cover that provide shelter at night. Juveniles favor shallower, more sheltered reef flats and lagoons with dense coral or seagrass cover, moving to deeper reef habitat as they mature. Individual adults often maintain a home range on a particular reef, returning to the same resting sites, such as caves or ledges, each night.

Humphead wrasse are solitary, slow-moving carnivores that forage during the day over reef and sand areas, using powerful pharyngeal jaws to crush the shells of mollusks, crustaceans, sea urchins, and other hard-bodied invertebrates. Notably, they are among the few reef predators willing to eat toxic prey such as crown-of-thorns starfish and boxfish, giving them an outsized ecological role in controlling starfish outbreaks. As protogynous hermaphrodites, most individuals begin life as females, with some later transitioning to males as they grow; dominant males may defend loose territories and court multiple females during spawning aggregations. They are naturally curious around divers but are slow to reproduce, making populations vulnerable to overfishing.