Humphead Wrasse

The Humphead Wrasse is a monster of a fish that is easily identifiable by the large bulge on its forehead and large lips. Its average length being about 6ft long and weighing over 400lbs, this unassuming coral dwelling fish outsized almost everything around it.

The Humphead Wrasse changes color over its lifetime; males range from bright bright blue, green, or purplish-blue to a relatively dull greenish-blue while children and females are primarily a red-orange color, which fades to white on their stomachs. 

All Humphead wrasses have unique markings on their faces that allow them to be identified by scientists and divers.

The Humphead Wrasse takes about 5 to 7 years to reach sexual maturity which is a decent amount of time compared to most fish but it is not an issue for them as they live for upwards of 30 years. The Humphead Wrasse is hermaphroditic, meaning they can change their sex. This is a trait shared with no other species of Wrasse and it is unclear how it plays into their reproductive cycle.

The Humphead Wrasse is equipped with tough teeth and is able to eat mollusks, starfish, or crustaceans from coral reefs. The Humphead wrasse is one of the only predators of the crown of thorns starfish, a starfish responsible for the destruction of many coral reefs around the globe.

The crown of thorns starfish is a coral-reef-dwelling starfish. It can feed on almost all varieties of coral and when the population is well regulated, is essential for coral reefs to thrive. However, there are events called 'breakouts' in which the crown of thorns starfish population grows massively and eats all the coral in a given area. These breakouts are obviously incredibly harmful to the ecosystem. One of the only predators of the crown of thorns starfish is the humphead wrasse which is able to keep these outbreaks in check. However, with declining humphead wrasse populations, outbreaks are on track to become more common and reefs will continue to be destroyed around the globe.

The Humphead wrasse lives in the tropical waters of nearly 50 countries, from the coast of East Africa to the Pacific Ocean. They live mostly in coral reeds as their primary food sources live there. So, as shown on the maps below, they live primarily where there are more coral reefs.

Over the course of its life, the Humphead Wrasse developed a bulge on its forehead. This is common in much other fish. It is used in mating to attract females and scare off other males. This trait most likely developed with the order Perciformes, as the other fish in that order are fish such as parrotfish which also have prominent bumps on their forehead.

The humphead wrasse also developed large lips to help them eat their prey. This is an adaptation common in many fish around the globe. A small fish present in Lake Victoria called a haplochromis chilotes also has large lips that allow it to grab its prey from the lake floor. This suggests convergent evolution and the Humphead wrasse and the haplochromis chilotes are very distantly related; their closest relation being their class, Actinopterygii, which is a class full of ray-finned fish. There are also other fish in the Labridae family with big lips as the Labridae family is separated from Perciformes based on feeding tendencies.

Due to its high market value and tasty meat, the humphead wrasse is very vulnerable to overfishing. The humphead wrasse has very few natural predators and because of that, the wrasse did not evolve any defensive traits making it more vulnerable to nets and fishermen.

The humphead wrasse is highly vulnerable to overfishing because it’s a luxury food item, valued at about $220 per pound. It is a part of the live reef fish trade predominant across Southeast Asia. Global warming also poses a significant threat to the fish; the rising carbon levels in the atmosphere are killing coral reefs and the animals that rely on them, one of those animals being the humphead wrasse.

As of today, the humphead wrasse is classified as an endangered species, which is a huge step in the right direction as now governments will be more inclined to protect it. Divers claim they no longer see humphead wrasses in the wild and if they do, they are hardly ever mature. There is no number for how many humphead wrasses exist in the wild today and there is no exact percentage for how much the humphead wrasse population has dropped. However, the total wrasse family population has dropped by at least half in just 30 years, with some localized populations declining by as much as 90 percent.

WWF is working to repopulate protected coral reefs with humphead wrasses that were formerly intended for sale through a buyback program with local fishermen and they have saved 860 wrasses so far. Any program that is working to save coral reefs is also indirectly helping the humphead wrasse as they survive off the animals in coral reefs. Bans on fishing the humphead wrasse have been put in place but that has been ineffective, as it is very hard to catch illegal trade especially with social media enabling anonymous trade. Saving Face is an app in devolvement that enables restaurant owners, patrons, and endangered species enforcement officers to compare a photo of a humphead wrasse for sale at a restaurant or market to photos in a database of legally imported humphead wrasses. This app releases in June of 2021 and if used correctly, could seriously decrease the amount of illegal fishing taking place.

The major killer of humphead wrasses is over-fishing. Apps like Saving Face, if used correctly can be incredibly helpful as they would stop a decent portion of illegal fishing. The only issue with Saving Face is people have to care enough to use it. That is the case with most issues concerning the Humphead Wrasse, not enough people know or care about this fish to help it. Conservation efforts should be focused on raising awareness so that more people can help. That is a bit unrealistic, so other plans that would be successful are plans that would save coral, either through coral breeding programs or reducing carbon emissions as a whole. The Humphead Wrasse relies on the coral reefs for practically everything so saving them would be incredibly beneficial to not just the wrasse, but many other coral-dwelling fish as well. The humphead wrasse would also benefit from a captive breeding program. There are not very many of them left in the wild and because of that, they are having issues breeding. If captive breeding programs were put in place they could stimulate the population and give it enough footing to rebuild itself.