Fish-Napoleon - the emperor of the water element!

In the oceans there is a huge number of unique inhabitants, most of which have not been studied so far. One of them is the Napoleon fish.

The largest representative of the genus of the Bay of Maori is the fish-Napoleon. On average, an adult weighs up to 200 kg and is up to two meters long. The duration of her life is not more than 50 years. Thanks to the characteristic outgrowth on his head, which in appearance resembles the headdress of the French emperor, and received its name Fish-Napoleon, a photo of which confirmation.

It is interesting that quite a few representatives of the genus Guban, including the fish-Napoleon, are naturally hermaphrodites. Most males are born by females and have the ability to spawn. And already after, at about the age of nine, they change their sex, significantly increase in size, change their color and protect their offspring.

Fish-Napoleon is very inquisitive and therefore easily contacts the person. If she often meets with him, then she already has a memory, and she eventually gets used to it.

Puberty takes up to 5-7 years. Most Maori reproduce in a traditional way for fish: they gather several hundred individuals into groups and form pairs. The female after mating at a shallow depth in the water lays eggs, which then carries the current.

Fish-Napoleon has a distinctive feature from other fish - a night's sleep. And in order not to become the prey of sea predators during sleep, the bayans hide in their shelters - reef caves, under coral ledges or burrow into the sand, and some individuals envelop themselves in a slimy cocoon.

As mentioned above, the Maori Bay is harmless and even very friendly, but, unfortunately, a person does not always behave the same way. The meat of these huge fish is a delicacy, respectively, the dishes of them are expensive and favorite delicacy of gourmets. Gradually, the demand for herbs is only increasing.

This amazing fish is listed in the Red Book. But, unfortunately, more and more poachers are engaged in illegal catch. If this continues, the population of Napoleon fish will be in danger, as they are caught mainly by large representatives who have undergone sex change and become males, and females can not single-handedly reproduce themselves.

Napoleon-fish has practically no enemies, except for only some large species of sharks. Despite their good nature, they are real predators, the main prey of which are crabs, starfish, molluscs, which they hunt only during the day, because they sleep at night. The hard shells of the victims are not a problem for the sharp, like nails, teeth of the jaws, the powerful jaws help to bite off the corals.

Napoleon fish - one of the few inhabitants of coral reefs, eating corals and hunting for sea hares, shellfish, sea urchins, thorns. Unfortunately, their numbers are rapidly decreasing, for the last thirty years it has decreased almost twofold.