The waters of bottomless seas and oceans are home to many inhabitants who have not yet been fully explored. There are species of aquatic fauna that are distinguished by their bright colors and unusual shapes. For example, the Napoleon fish, which in its appearance resembles a cartoon character. Next, you can read more about the description of the Napoleon fish, find out where it lives, what it eats and how it reproduces.
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Description
Napoleon fish is a member of the wrasse family. The body of males is bright blue, blue and green. And the color of females and fry is orange with white dots and spots. The calling card of the Napoleon fish is its huge lips and growth on the surface of the male’s head. The discoverer of this aquatic resident gave it this name precisely in connection with this growth, which in its shape resembles the headdress of the French commander Napoleon Bonaparte. This is the largest representative of the family.
The body length of Napoleon fish averages 180 cm, and body weight varies between 170-200 kg. Throughout life, it can change gender if male hormones begin to predominate. After a while, the female turns into a male, she has characteristic appearance features - color and a cocked hat on her head.
The wrasse has large scales that cover the surface of the body like tiles. Each scale is located in a recess in the skin and overlaps each other. When the fish matures, rings form on the surface of the scales, which in shape and appearance resemble a cut of wood. These rings can be used to determine the age of the fish. This predator has a retractable mouth and strong jaws. Inside there are incisor-shaped or conical teeth; they can easily grind the shells of mollusks and crabs.
The peculiarity of animals is that they are hermaphrodites. They are all born as females. But when they are 8 weeks old, sexual dimorphism is formed. Reproduction occurs in the traditional way. They create a pair, then the female lays eggs in the water. These eggs are then carried along with the current.
Individuals become sexually mature at the age of seven years. The males protect the newly born fry. They protect offspring from various dangers.
Yandex picture
Napoleon fish
Among the steep slopes of coral reefs, the Napoleon fish, or Maori wrasse (lat. Cheilinus undulatus), slowly swims, which divers who descend into the depths of the Indian and Pacific oceans, the Red Sea, the east coast of Africa or south of the Japanese islands to coast of New Caledonia.
flickr/brewbooks
These good-natured giants cannot be confused with anyone - their two-meter length, thick lips, a growth on the forehead reminiscent of the cocked hat of the most famous French emperor, and most importantly, a trusting, friendly character - have earned the Napoleon fish a good reputation.
flickr/brewbooks
These giant creatures are extremely sociable - they are not afraid to swim close to people, looking at them with wide eyes, and will certainly touch an outstretched hand or simply nudge with their nose, as a dog does when it wants to be petted. The Maori wrasse has a high intelligence and memory that you wouldn't expect from a fish, and is able to remember and recognize people it has previously interacted with.
flickr/Eric Burgers
Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates these creatures for their amazing personal qualities, paying more attention to the taste and value of their meat. As a result, there are almost no Napoleon fish left in Southeast Asia, “thanks” to the activities of Chinese restaurateurs - once on the table of the imperial court, this fish is invariably included in the list of the most sought-after delicacies in luxury restaurants. And slow maturation over 5-7 years increases the risk of complete extinction of the population.
flickr/Armando de Luca
The Napoleon fish is one of the largest coral fish in the world and the largest member of the wrasse family. It can grow up to 230 centimeters in length and weigh 190 kilograms. As the Napoleon fish grows, it changes not only its body shape and the size of the “cocked hat” on its head, but also its gender.
flickr/jome jome
Some females turn into males at about nine years of age, but scientists have not yet figured out what exactly makes them make this decision. Most Maori wrasses reproduce in the traditional way, gathering in groups of several hundred individuals and forming pairs within these groups. After mating, the female lays eggs in the water at a shallow depth, which are carried by the current.
flickr/richardling
With the exception of a few large species of sharks, Napoleon fish have almost no natural enemies. Despite their good-natured nature, Napoleon fish are true predators. Their main prey, which they hunt exclusively during the daytime, are shellfish, starfish, and crabs. The hard shells of some prey pose no challenge to the wrasse's sharp, nail-like teeth. Powerful jaws help it bite through pieces of dead coral, extracting mussels and worms from them.
flickr/alexgables1974
The Maori wrasse is one of the few inhabitants of coral reefs that preys on venomous coral-eating animals such as aplysia, or sea hares, boxfish and the infamous crown of thorns. That is why their role in the ecosystem and conservation of coral reefs cannot be overestimated. Unfortunately, the numbers of these amazing fish are rapidly declining, having almost halved over the past thirty years.
Where does it live?
Napoleon is also called a wrasse. It lives in the waters of the Red Sea in Egypt. Prefers to live in coral reefs, on the tropical coasts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Wrasses are sometimes found in the waters of the Black Sea; their favorite place is coral reefs. There they hide from danger and wait for their prey. They also like to hide on rocky coasts that are heavily overgrown with algae.
They descend to a depth of one hundred meters. They can be found in southern and eastern Africa. But it is in the Red Sea in Egypt that this beautiful inhabitant can be found most often.
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Characteristic
Despite its terrifying appearance, this big-lipped giant is friendly and calm. Its mysterious origin has not yet been studied, but it is known that it belongs to the order Percidae. Its length can reach 2.3 meters, and its weight reaches 200 kg. The Napoleon fish got its name due to the growth on its head that resembles the hat of the French emperor. You can clearly see it in the photo. It is very surprising that this growth indicates that the individual has matured. Initially, they are all born as full-fledged females, but as they grow older they can change their gender to male. It is then that a growth appears in the form of a cocked hat. It is not yet known why this happens.
Yandex pictures
The body of the wrasse is elongated and covered with scales. It is located on the body in a very interesting way, reminiscent of roof tiles. As they grow older, rings appear on the body, similar to circles when cutting a tree. Males are gray-green in color, while females have red and orange elements. The dorsal fin is located along the entire body. It can be found at different depths and loves to live in coral reefs. The fish is very sociable and inquisitive, which is its distinctive feature. You can swim up to her and stroke her without fear. She is not afraid of anyone and makes contact very willingly. You just need to extend your hand and the fish swims up to it, like a domestic cat or dog.
What kind of lifestyle does he lead?
This fish is a loner. During the daytime, she is awake, and when night falls, she hides between the branches of corals or in rock crevices. The wrasse sleeps on its side. This amazing sea creature easily makes contact with people. Since she is very curious, she can swim close to a person and take food from his hands.
The average lifespan of a Napoleon fish is about 50 years. When living in favorable conditions, the Napoleon fish is a long-liver.
From Indonesia to Hong Kong
Indonesia not only exports wild-caught Napoleon fish, but also those bred in captivity in a remote area off the coast of Nambas and Natuna islands. In 2022, for the first time, this country established an annual export quota of 40,000 head for marine farms. They are actually fish caught in the wild as juveniles and raised in pens.
As with wild specimens, they are exported live, mainly to Hong Kong, to be stored in tanks in markets and restaurants until they can be sold. This influx has further complicated enforcement due to both the sheer volume of fish and the inability to distinguish between wild and farmed specimens.
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What does it eat?
This is a very sociable aquatic resident. By nature it is a predator. Procures its own food supply on its own.
The diet includes:
- small fish;
- shellfish;
- crabs;
- crustaceans;
- zooplankton.
These aquatic inhabitants even hunt poisonous representatives of aquatic fauna - sea urchins and stars. They can also hunt for animals that feed on corals - sea hares, boxfish, crowns of thorns. Divers say that such animals are very fond of boiled chicken eggs, so every diver prepares a small gift in the form of a chicken egg before meeting Napoleon. The wrasse independently peels the egg from the shell without damaging it and eats the offered delicacy. It's an impressive sight. But oceanologists do not recommend giving such animals food that is unusual for their body too often.
Fish is most often sold online
The above fact indicates illegal fishing and trading, but it is very difficult to establish the extent of this activity. Online trading platforms such as Chinese e-commerce sites TMall and Taobao can facilitate this, Sadove said. Social networks, chats and WhatsApp groups make it much more difficult to find poachers, adds O'Cryodane.
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How and where it is used
This fish species is endangered, its population is constantly decreasing. This is due to the fact that the reproduction process is quite lengthy. Puberty takes a long time to occur and growth occurs over a long period of time. Another reason is that fry are often used as aquarium inhabitants. And the biggest damage is that fish are actively caught and used as a delicacy.
Wrasse meat is very valuable; gourmets all over the world dream of trying it. Lips are the biggest delicacy, dishes made from them are very expensive
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Interesting solution to the problem
The lack of tracking of Napoleon fish led Sadove to create a tool that could be used by both authorities and the public. First, recognition technology uses the fish's unique eye marks to determine whether a particular fish was legally imported. Working with various developers, she created Saving Face, a smartphone app that would allow diners, restaurateurs and law enforcement officials to compare a photo of fish for sale in a restaurant or market with images in a database of legally imported products.
According to Sadove, the application is still in the testing phase. She hopes Hong Kong will help promote it and that it will empower people to monitor consumers and stop the sale of illegally caught fish. The researcher also says that a growing number of restaurants in Hong Kong are committed to serving only legally acquired specimens that are not at risk of extinction in the wild, while consumers themselves are becoming more aware that luxury food is not worth the extinction of entire species.
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For the app to have a real impact on the illegal trade, Hong Kong would need to have enough inspectors at every port to photograph every imported live Napoleon and register it in a database. In addition, there should be widespread dissemination of this service among restaurateurs who buy fish from wholesalers, as well as among restaurant visitors. Then, if the application returns a result that there are no matches in the database, users will have to take responsibility for reporting this to law enforcement officials.
