Cheilinus undulatus
Humphead Maori Wrasse | Double-headed Maori Wrasse | Double-headed Parrot-fish | Giant Humphead Wrasse | Giant Maori Wrasse | Giant Wrasse | Humphead Wrasse | Napoleon Maori Wrasse | Napoleon Wrasse | Truck Wrasse | Undulate Wrasse | Chelinus undulatus
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Large, heavy bodied wrasse. Blue to grey-green males, and tan-grey females. Black lines behind eye and below towards top lip, scribbles on face, short dark vertical lines on body broadening to become a diamond pattern towards rear of body, fine wavy dark and light lines on dorsal, anal and tail fins. Large males develop large hump on head above eyes. Can become accustomed to divers at popular dive sites, otherwise curious but shy. Heavily overfished.
Information
Max Size: 229 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22.1-30.8°C
Depth: 1-100 m
Habitat Generalization Index: 14.22
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Endangered
Occurrence: Frequent (15.4% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Solitary (1 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Joe Shields