You can sponsor this page

Cheilinus undulatus Rüppell, 1835

Humphead wrasse
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Cheilinus undulatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Videos | Stamps, coins, misc. | Google image

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) > Labridae (Wrasses) > Cheilininae
Etymology: Cheilinus: Greek, cheilos = lip (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Rüppell.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 100 m (Ref. 58652). Tropical; 30°N - 23°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea to South Africa (Ref. 35918) and to the Tuamoto Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia. Formerly known as Vulnerable (A1d+2cd) (Y. Sadovy) but now listed as Endangered in IUCN 2004.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 52 - ? cm
Max length : 229 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9823); common length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450); max. published weight: 191.0 kg (Ref. 9710); max. reported age: 32 years (Ref. 51676)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 8. This species is distinguished by the following characters: body deep, its depth 2.2-2.7 times in standard length; dorsal profile of head straight to above eye, then becoming convex; adults develop a large hump on forehead that can protrude anterior to eye; anterior tip of head forming an acute angle; jaws and lips prominent, 2 strong canines anteriorly in each jaw; no enlarged tooth present of rear of upper jaw; D IX,10, continuous; A III,8; dorsal and anal fins of adults very pointed, reaching well posterior to caudal-fin base; pelvic fins of small fish reaching anus, extending beyond anal-fin origin in large adults; pectoral fins with ii unbranched and 10 branched rays; caudal fin rounded; lateral line interrupted below posterior portion of dorsal-fin base, with a total of 22-23 pored scales; scales reaching well onto bases of dorsal and anal fins; scales in front of dorsal fin extending forward to above centre of eye; cheek and opercle scaly; lower jaw without scales. Colour of body olive to green with a vertical dark bar on each scale above and behind pectoral fins; head of adults blue-green to blue with highly irregular undulating yellowish lines; 2 black lines extending posteriorly from eye. Juvenile coloration lighter to white with dark scale bars and prominent black lines extending posteriorly from eyes, as well as 2 lines extending diagonally up and back from eye and 2 diagonally downward on snout in front of eye (Ref. 9823).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults inhabit steep outer reef slopes, channel slopes, and lagoon reefs (Ref. 1602). They are benthopelagic at 2-60 m (Ref. 58302). They are usually solitary but may occur in pairs. Juveniles are encountered in coral-rich areas of lagoon reefs, where staghorn Acropora corals abound (Ref. 1602) and also in algae reefs or seagrasses (Ref. 48636, 41878). Adults rove across the reefs by day and rest in reef caves and under coral ledges at night (Ref. 31343). Primary food are mollusks, fishes, sea urchins, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. They are one of the few predators of toxic animals such as sea hares, boxfishes and crown-of-thorns starfish (Ref. 1602). They are oviparous with distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205). They are sold in Hong Kong live fish markets (Ref. 27253). This species is captured by hook-and-line and by spear, and is occasionally marketed for food. Juveniles are occasionally seen in the aquarium trade (Ref. 9823). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205). Also Ref. 103751.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Westneat, Mark | Collaborators

Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene, 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 p. (Ref. 2334)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (A2bd+3bd); Date assessed: 30 April 2004

CITES


CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 5374)





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths
Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
References
References

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 24.9 - 28.8, mean 27.5 °C (based on 580 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01514 (0.01169 - 0.01959), b=2.97 (2.90 - 3.04), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.61 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 27.5 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm = 5-7; tmax = 32).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (74 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 12.1 [5.8, 27.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.416 [0.172, 0.952] mg/100g; Protein = 18.1 [13.7, 21.4] %; Omega3 = 0.0801 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 63.5 [27.0, 158.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 100 [16, 448] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.77 [1.00, 3.02] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.