Page 73 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #05

HUMPHEAD WRASSE

But mass spawning is much better known in groupers than
in humphead wrasse – the behaviour has only been seen in
these giants at a handful of sites.
UNIQUE AND UNDER THREAT
It was imperative to work out how vulnerable wrasse are
while they’re spawning, and hence how important it is
to protect their spawning sites. To do that I spent weeks
shooting hours of underwater footage of the spawning fish,
in particular their faces. Humpheads have intricate facial
patterns, which is where they get one of their other names:
Maori wrasse (some say the lines resemble the traditional
Moko tattoos of the indigenous people of New Zealand).
My study showed that the patterns are unique to each
Weberberger/ magebroker/A amy; V ncent Truchet/B osphoto/Photoshot; Klaus-Werner Friedrich/imagebroker/Alamy; opposite: Imagebroker/FLPA group of females at Swallow Reef – fewer than 100 – bore
wrasse, like fingerprints. These natural markers enabled me
to track individual fish so I could tell that the same females
returned to spawn, day after day. It meant that a fairly small

the responsibility of producing the next generation. It also
meant that a fishery focusing on the spawning site could
swiftly clear away the entire adult population.
The plan was to return to continue my studies, but that
never happened. Shortly after my first trip, another research
team visited and sent back heartbreaking news: all the
humphead wrasse were gone.
Swallow Reef isn’t officially a marine protected area, but
the Malaysian military had deterred fishers from coming

this one claimed by Malaysia). But somehow a fishing fleet
had been allowed in and it harvested the reef’s riches.
Top to bottom: M chae near (the tiny island is one of the disputed Spratly Islands,
The humphead wrasse on Swallow Reef weren’t the last
ones I saw in the wild. More recently I went to Palau, a
cluster of islands in the Pacific over 2,000km east of the
South China Sea. Every time I dived there I saw at least one

Opposite page: humphead wrasse, sometimes several. There were huge
THE LIVE FISH TRADE humphead wrasse males, along with smaller females and immature males
are named after
the prominent (which are hard to tell apart unless they’re spawning), and
In restaurants across Endangered Species hump on their flitting through the shallow lagoons were tiny juveniles.
China people choose their (CITES), but fish forehead.Above: There was even a moment when I glimpsed movements
meal from aquariums smuggling remains rife. intricate facial that sparked an old memory. I was slowly climbing back up
packed with large fish. There’s growing concern patterns identify to the surface at the end of dive when I spied a mismatched
individual fish.
Priciest are humphead too about the new pair of humpheads. They shimmied their bodies together
Top: adults are
wrasse, at up to US$250 (legal) British trade in usually solitary, and released into the water: a small, familiar cloud.
apiece. They’re often live wrasse. Thousands spending the day As the mating pair retreated into the depths I suddenly
caught by divers using of cuckoo, ballan and roaming the reef. understood a new reality of our changing world. There are
cyanide to stun the fish, corkwing wrasse are countless places where species are being lost and regional
damaging the coral in caught of southern extinctions are happening. It’s possible humphead wrasse
the process. Humphead England annually and sent may never return to Swallow Reef, nor to many other reefs
wrasse are listed on to Scottish salmon farms where fisheries have swept through. But strongholds do still
the Convention on as ‘cleaners’ to control remain where humpheads are living.
International Trade in sea-lice infestations. It’s more important than ever to safeguard special places
like these. In Palau, roughly half of the inshore waters are
Endangered protected in a network of marine reserves and a staggering
humpheads are 80 per cent of the offshore waters are off limits to
increasingly commercial fishing. Humphead wrasse, not to mention
appearing in + FIND OUT MORE
markets. Listen to Helen’s other species, are strictly protected. The result is a vibrant,
programme about healthy ecosystem inhabited by big, old animals and
living underwater, abundant youngsters who stand a good chance of still being
The Life Sub- around for many spawning seasons to come.
Aquatic, for
BBC Radio 4: HELEN SCALES is a marine biologist and BBC
http://bbc.
in/1FF0GhD radio presenter. Her latest book Eye of the Shoal
(Bloomsbury Sigma, £16.99) is out on 3 May.
Spring 2018 BBC Wildlife 73