Humphead wrasse

Cheilinus undulatus

Fish
IUCN: Endangered

Usual depth4–23 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and July
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Sockrosma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The humphead wrasse is the largest species of wrasse mainly found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, and Napoleonfish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Humphead wrasse”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 212 records
February: 359 records
March: 575 records
April: 576 records
May: 404 records
June: 249 records
July: 445 records
August: 298 records
September: 305 records
October: 426 records
November: 270 records
December: 266 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–23 m · Deepest record: 360 m

0–10 m: 378 records
10–20 m: 672 records
20–30 m: 243 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 9 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 15 records
26–28 °C: 92 records
28–30 °C: 263 records

Photos

(c) Rolf Lawrenz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Romain Boisseau, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Jim Wallace, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Humphead wrasse, Blue-tooth Groper, Double-headed Maori Wrasse, Double-headed Parrot-fish, Giant Maori Wrasse, Giant Wrasse, Humphead, Hump-headed Maori Wrasse, Hump-headed Wrasse, Humphead Maori Wrasse, humphead wrasse, Maori Wrasse, Māori Wrasse, Napoleon Fish, Napoleon Maori-wrasse, Napoleon Wrasse, tapiro, Truck Wrasse, Undulate Wrasse

Names in 7 more languages

German: Napoleon-Lippfisch
Spanish: Maorí Napoleón
Filipino: Bankilan, Bungat, Isdang bato, Mameng
French: Labre Napoléon, Napoleon, Napoléon
Japanese: Meganemochinouo, ナポレオンフィッシュ, メガネモチノウオ
Thai: ปลานกขุนทองหัวโหนก
Simplified Chinese: 大片仔, 拿破崙, 曲紋唇魚, 汕散仔, 波紋唇魚(蘇眉), 波紋鸚鯛, 波纹唇鱼, 海哥龍王, 石蚱仔, 蘇眉, 闊嘴郎, 龍王鯛

Other scientific names: Cheilenus undulatus, Cheilinus godeffroyi, Cheilinus mertensii, Cheilinus rostratus, Cheilinus undulates, Chelinus godeffroyi, Chelinus mertensii, Chelinus rostratus, Chelinus undulatus, Chilinus godeffroyi, Crassilabrus undulatus

Similar species

Checkerboard wrasse
Halichoeres hortulanus
Bluestreak cleaner wrasse
Labroides dimidiatus
Pyjama
Pseudocheilinus hexataenia
False Diana's Pigfish
Bodianus dictynna
Bumphead parrotfish
Bolbometopon muricatum
Blue-scaled Fairy Wrasse
Cirrhilabrus cyanopleura

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
2,292 open-data records from 1835 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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