THE NAPOLEON FISH
- Friendly Fins
- Dec 24, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 7
With a rather important name, the Napoleon fish is certainly one of the most curious fish in the coral reef! Curious indeed!
How to recognize the Napoleon fish
Come riconosciamo il pesce Napoleone
I can fool an inexperienced eye when I am still small but my shape and size when I grow leave no room for doubt: I can reach two meters in length and weigh approximately 200 kg.
My coloring is wonderful: green but with elegant blue, yellow and purple streaks, when I'm small it looks like I'm wearing makeup around my eyes, and this gives me a very professional look so much so that the other fish move away when I pass by!
As absolutely distinctive signs I have a protuberance on my forehead when I grow up and very large and pronounced lips.
It swims in an efficient but rather bizarre way, moving its two dorsal fins up and down, achieving modest propulsion and delicate movements!
Why is it called Napoleon fish?
The singular name comes from the great French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and… From his hat! In fact, when the Napoleon fish becomes an adult and right on the forehead, this protuberance grows which gradually becomes larger based on age and resembles Napoleon's cap.
Pronounced protuberance, size around 2 meters = a mature and wise Napoleon fish!
Napoleon fish are in fact very long-lived, living up to 50 years.
The “Modern” Life of the Napoleon Fish
At first glance it seems like any other fish except that it is part of the large family of wrasses and is in fact the largest wrasse fish in the world.
Being part of the wrasse family means having a very eventful life because these fish are all born female and change sex as they grow, turning into males at around 9 years of age, although little is known about what determines this change of sex.
Napoleon fish and Divers
The Napoleon fish is very famous in all the tropical seas of the world, but especially in the Red Sea the high concentration of these fish has been talked about for a long time. When scuba diving began to take hold and more and more divers immersed themselves in the warm waters of the Red Sea, the Napoleon fish proved to be very curious (as it is now) often approaching divers to observe them with its rotating eye.
Unfortunately, the bad habits of divers of the time, in order to get closer to them and see them/photograph them better, almost exterminated them almost everywhere.
"The divers used to give us a lot of hard boiled eggs, which we discovered we were very fond of, but dozens of hard boiled eggs a day are not good for anyone, even though for us it had become a delicious banquet and we willingly let them get close until our livers begged for mercy.
One day these eggs became ping pong balls, but we couldn't know it, accustomed to our hard boiled eggs and very similar, in a short time the vast majority of the population was exterminated...
Despite everything, we managed to overcome this complicated period thanks to strict rules dedicated to our protection and respected by almost everyone.
For our part, we have regained trust in human beings. We have started to get closer again but we don't want anything from you except to observe you!"
How we search for Napoleon fish
Both divers and snorkelers can have the opportunity to see it during the day: the small females frequent the most superficial meters of the coral reef, so this fish with the eyeliner could easily catch our eye.
The larger males often remain in the "blue" next to the reef but they can also pass by a few meters deep and inside the lagoons, benefiting from the light and looking for females to mate with.
An unusual thing but that I have already noticed a few times is the "nap of the Napoleon fish", especially in the afternoon we can find it on the sandy bottom in the shade or directly inside some well-sheltered ravine, intent on resting or being cleaned by the cleaner fish.
"After all, we also want to rest a bit after all the trips we make up and down the coral reef."
Friendly advice on Napoleon fish
The Napoleon fish is protected and its fishing is prohibited in much of the world, as it is considered to be in danger of extinction, especially due to overfishing for its meat and lips…
But let's not be sad because not all is lost!
During dives here in the Red Sea it often happens now to encounter it, like all the other inhabitants of the coral reef, the most effective behavior to use is "do nothing"! The females are very shy and rarely approach. The large males instead appear out of nowhere and deliberately observe us!
Our behaviors can influence their approach so always move slowly without making sudden movements, doing so Friendly Fins, you can be sure that they will come very close and will let you admire them in all their colorful splendor.
"Obviously do not feed us or touch us! Like all other animals we have a protective coating on our skin to avoid infections from fungi, algae and bacteria; by petting us you remove this coating and we seriously risk getting sick…"
But you liked us, discover another colorful coral reef fish...Click here
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