The Napoleon Wrasse, also known as the Humphead Wrasse, is another fish undergoing conservation in most countries. They can commonly be found living in coral reefs in the pacific ocean. The fish can grow up to seven feet long and can live for up to 50 years. The fish itself is physically known for having big lips, black lines behind its eyes and most known for the massive hump on it’s forehead. Color wise the fish can be found as green and different shades of blue. Most Wrasse will live in small schools for protection from predators and will hide in the reefs.
The reason I choose to bring light to this fish is because it is also on the IUCN Red list. For those who don’t know the ICUN (Red List of Threatened Species) is a company that has been given the task of keeping track of the global conservation status of various species. This means they keep track of how close species are to becoming extinct, and to reduce the threat on those species. The Napoleon Wrasse is labeled as endangered on the red list. This is because of the death of most of the coral reef in Southeast Asia, the use of very harmful fishing strategies used by fishers in Asia, overfishing, aquarium trading, and poor rules set by governments on these costal regions. The aquarium trading market has seen a huge boom in the last couple years and the prices of these exotic species has increased greatly since the discovery of these beautiful fish.
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphead_wrasse
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUCN_Red_List
- https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blog.nus.edu.sg/dist/6/2844/files/2013/04/humpheadwrasse1-1gkkb47.jpg