Fish with big forehead

Napoleon fish with big forehead in coral reefs

The fish of the wrasse family, known as the napoleon, is one of the largest coral reef fish. Occurs to a depth of 100 meters, it settles surrounded by specific species of seagrass and corals. Juvenile wrasses hide among underwater vegetation and corals, adults prefer reef margins. Napoleon fish lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They are considered an endangered species – in many regions the meat of this fish is very sought after and fetches very high prices. Within the European Union, trade in humpback wrasse is completely prohibited. Napoleon fish is large, with length that can exceed 2 meters, weight reaches 190 kilograms. Females are smaller than males. Characteristic of this species are fleshy lips and a hump on top of the head, appearing in adult specimens. The eyes of this fish are small, there are two characteristic lines behind the eyes.

Males are green or blue, sometimes their color goes to purple. Juvenile wrasses and females are orange-red above, orange-red to white below. The body of this fish with big forehead is covered with large scales, up to 10 centimeters long. Napoleon fish feeds on molluscs, crustaceans, sea urchins and fish, and also eat some toxic species of coral reef organisms. It’s are quite long-lived fish, it lives over 30 years, most often swims alone, sometimes in pairs or larger groups. These fish become mature for reproduction at the age of 4-6 years, and they are initially hermaphrodites, some individuals, for unknown reasons, become males at the age of about 9 years. For reproductive purposes, individuals of Napoleon fish meet for spawning at certain times of the year.

Fish species having prominent forehead

Not only Napoleon fish is an example of type of fish type with big forehead. We can name other examples: barreleye fish, midas cichlid, humphead glassfish scientific name and other.

Green humphead parrotfish scientific

Green humphead parrotfish scientific called also Bolbometopon muricatum is a species of fish from the parrotfish family, the largest representative of the family. There is a characteristic bump on the head. This prominent forehead is filled with fat. Blueish, greenish color. The front head is pink. This fish can be found in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, off the coast of oceanic islands, Africa, southern Asia, Indonesia and Australia. Green humphead parrotfish feeds on algae that grow on rocks and coral reefs. It tears off pieces of coral, especially this species destroys live corals by repeatedly chewing it. She expelled stone had. Green humphead parrotfish species is at risk of extinction. It has the status of VU in the Red List of Threatened Species.

Midas cichlid scientific name

The preferred habitat for midas called also Cichlasoma citrinellum is Central America. You can meet representatives of the family near Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Usually Midas cichlids live in lakes, they also prefer slow-moving rivers and other similar sources of water.

Flowerhorn fish

Flowerhorn are ornamental fish commonly found in many aquariums due to their bright colors and heads with distinct shapes. These beautiful fish with massive forehead can be found in aquariums or ponds, as they are artificial, having been developed in Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand. While flowerhorn are known for their vivid colors, they also have bulbous heads with nuchal humps called Kok on the top. Both males and females have this distinctive look, although it’s prominent in the former.

Barreleye fish

Barreleye fish is known for its strange looking eyes that are bright green upward-pointing orbs, visible through the transparent dome on its forehead. The upward-pointing eyes of barreleye fish are able to spot prey above them in the water column but can rotate forward when needed.

Lionhead cichlid scientific

Lionhead scientific cichlid called also Steatocranus casuarius has a characteristic fat forehead hump (especially large in males). The name comes from this hump. In addition, it is distinguished by the way it swims. This tropical fish spends a lot of time in a sitting position. They support themselves with strong fins. At first glance, it looks like they are just learning to swim. In natural conditions, it is easier for them to move and maintain balance thanks to their reduced swim bladder. It belongs to the so-called fissure fish (fish living in hard-to-reach crevices and rock caves). They get together in stable pairs, and their relationship is very durable. They are fish with pronounced sexual dimorphism. The adult male is noticeably larger than the female. In small individuals, gender recognition is practically impossible.

Oranda goldfish

Oranda goldfish called also Carassius auratus auratus, does not occur in the wild. This popular fish comes from the goldfish found in China and is the result of 1000 years of selection in China and Japan. Oranda is up to 30 cm, in the aquarium usually up to 15 cm. This fish with big forehead is fresh water fish. Calm, willingly digs the ground and eats delicate plants. Determining its sex is not difficult: the male has a reddish belly and dorsal fin, while the female’s body is greyish-white, with spots and stripes. This species is very aggressive and defends its territory against any intruders. They feed on live, frozen and dry food. Supplement its diet with plant foods. There are many species of that fish that differ in body shape, fin length and shape, and coloration.

A characteristic feature of this variety are lush skin growths on the head. The fish are distinguished by beautiful elongated caudal fins and high protruding dorsal fins. This breed comes in a variety of colors. The most interesting is oranda calico (Azuma Nishiki), red, orange-red oranda with slightly more intensely colored growths.

Blood parrots

Blood parrot is an extremely beautiful freshwater aquarium fish from the cichlid family. It was bred artificially. Most likely, the lemon cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellus) and the multi-colored cichlid (Paraneetroplus synspilus) were used to breed it. As a consequence, fish were created that were exceptionally beautiful, but at the same time prone to diseases and deformities. For this reason, the sale of this species in aquarium stores is considered quite controversial. The minimum tank for parrot cichlids is considered to be a 200 liter aquarium, in which there should be plenty of swimming space. These fish like different types of hiding places, so try to include roots, stones and plants in the aquarium.

Other fish species of fish with big forehead

In this article we presented some species of fish with big foreheads, however we didn’t cover all. We recommend checking some information about hump-headed blenny, bowhead whales, Kamfa, dolphinfish, etc.