Sling-jaw wrasse

About this species

The slingjaw wrasse is a species of wrasse from the family Labridae which is native to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific where it occurs around coral reefs. Along with its sister species in the genus Epibulus, this species is notable for its highly protrusible jaws, an adaptation for feeding in complex aquatic environments. This species is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries and can be found in the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Sling-jaw 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: 521 records
February: 415 records
March: 726 records
April: 843 records
May: 593 records
June: 390 records
July: 572 records
August: 590 records
September: 853 records
October: 674 records
November: 351 records
December: 224 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–22 m · Deepest record: 1,800 m

0–10 m: 1,686 records
10–20 m: 1,581 records
20–30 m: 685 records
30–40 m: 16 records
40–50 m: 5 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 78 records
26–28 °C: 120 records
28–30 °C: 228 records

Photos

(c) Gergely Nigg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jonathan Maitrot, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Sling-jaw wrasse, Jawslinger, longjawed wrasse, Sling-jaw, Slingjaw, sling-jaw wrasse, Slingjaw Wrasse, Sling-jaw wrasse, Slingjaw wrasse, Telescopefish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Stülpmaul-Lippfisch
Spanish: Napoleón Bocón, Vieja Guramí
Filipino: Bankilan, Bunak, Bungat, Isdang bato, Mameng
French: Canard, Épibule gourami, Épibule Trompeur, Labre insidieux, Labre Traître
Japanese: Gichibera, ギチベラ
Thai: ปลานกขุนทองปากยื่น
Simplified Chinese: 伸口魚, 伸口鱼, 闊嘴郎

Other scientific names: Epibulis insidiator, Epibulus striatus, Sparus insidiator

Similar species

Dwarf Slingjaw Wrasse
Epibulus brevis
Blue Groper
Achoerodus gouldii
Blue Groper
Achoerodus viridis
Tripletail wrasse
Cheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head Parrotfish
Chlorurus microrhinos
bullethead parrotfish
Chlorurus sordidus

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).
6,521 open-data records from 1902 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.