Humphead Wrasse

Species
Humphead Wrasse

Species
Humphead Wrasse

Humphead Wrasse

Top
Facts
Why They Matter
Threats
What WWF is Doing
How You Can Help

Facts

Status
Endangered
Scientific Name
Cheilinus undulatus
Weight
over 400 pounds
Length
6 feet
Habitats
Oceans

The humphead wrasse is an enormous coral reef fish—growing over six feet long—with a prominent bulge on its forehead. Some of them live to be over 30 years old. They roam through coral reefs in search of hard shelled prey such as mollusks, starfish, or crustaceans.

WWF urges local governments in the Coral Triangle to stop the trade and consumption of humphead wrasse—one of the most expensive live reef fishes in the world. Live reef fish trade in Southeast Asia continues to be a significant problem that threatens the region’s food security as well as its reefs, as poachers often resort to legal and destructive fishing methods to catch them.

Places
Coral Triangle, Coastal East Africa
Habitats
Ocean Habitat

Browse Photos & Videos

At Work Among the Coral Reefs

Surveying the coral reefs of the Raja Ampat islands, WWF's Helen Fox works to protect marine areas for generations to come.

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Why They Matter

These fish are very important to coral reef health. They eat crown-of-thorn starfish and therefore keep populations of this damaging coral reef predator in check.

Threats

Extinction Risk Endangered
1. EX
  Extinct
  
  No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died
2. EW
  Extinct in the Wild
  
  Known only to survive in cultivation, in captivity or as a naturalised population
3. CR
  Critically Endangered
  
  Facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the Wild
4. EN
  Endangered
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
5. VU
  Vulnerable
  
  Facing a high risk of extinction in the Wild
6. NT
  Near Threatened
  
  Likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future
7. LC
  Least Concern
  
  Does not qualify for Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near Threatened

Here humphead wrasse are kept in a tank in Hong Kong, China before being sold to customers.

The humphead wrasse is highly vulnerable to overfishing because it’s a valued luxury food as a part of the live reef fish trade predominant across Southeast Asia.

What WWF Is Doing

In Malaysia, WWF helped to stop the export of this important fish. We work with partners to repopulate protected coral reefs with wrasses that were formerly intended for sale through a buyback program with local fishermen. Since 2010, over 860 humphead wrasse have been released back into the wild.