Napoleon Wrasse in Palau

I've had the pleasure of feeding these critters at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. I fed the fish there for a year and gave talks to the little children while underwater.  I usually fed them with tongs because they have very big front teeth, and will come up to you disinterested and in the blink of an eye get the squid and your finger too. Make that I always used tongs after the first introduction. 

I've also seen them in the open water during shark feeding when they will get up in the middle of frenzied sharks and think nothing of pulling food from a sharks mouth.  Interestingly they seem to have no interest in divers, and as this video demonstrates will chomp on pieces of coral and turn it to sand.  This was the first video I ever attempted with my new Sea & Sea 1G underwater housed camera.  It is a 10 MP camera for still shots and does an adequate job for the novice videographer.

As in members of the wrasse family, these fish change sex from female to male over time.  They become sexually mature at 5 to 7 years and can live at least 30 years.  Juviniles and females are red -orange and red-orange to white. Males are green-blue and grow very large. One unconfirmed report tells of a male that was 7.75 feet and weighed 420 lbs.  I've photographed a diver with one that was at least 5 foot in length.  Return to home page.