Name: Humphead wrasse, Napoleon fish
Scientific Name: Cheilinus undulatus (Rüppel, 1835)
Family: Labridae
Group: Bony fish
Class: Fish
Size: 101-200 cm.
The humphead is the largest of all the wrasses, reaching about 2.3 m in length and weighing more than 150 kg. The adults have fat lips, a hump in the area behind the head and are endowed with excellent vision, given that their eyes can turn almost 360º. Just like most wrasses, the humphead is protogynous hermaphrodite.
It is born female and later changes sex, into a male. It feeds mainly on poisonous animals, such as the boxfish. As such, it accumulates the toxins of these animals and, itself, becomes venomous...
Photo by:
Mafalda Frade
Oceanário Location
Tropical Indian
