Humphead Maori wrasse
Cheilinus undulatus
Illustration: Bloom by Day
PROTECTED — look, don't shoot
Green over blue, with a fleshy hump above the eyes that grows with age, thick rubbery lips, and a maze of fine pale lines scribbled across the cheeks that is different on every fish. It is a no-take species in Queensland and an unmistakable one: nothing else on the reef is a metre of wrasse with a forehead.
how to recognise it
- a prominent hump on the forehead that grows with age
- thick rubbery lips
- enormous — the largest wrasse there is
- green over blue, with fine scribbled lines on the face
don’t confuse with
- Redbreast Maori wrasse — the redbreast is a fraction of the size and has broad white bars with an orange-red front end
- Tripletail Maori wrasse — the tripletail is small, mottled green-brown with four broad bars and a three-lobed tail
Field marks read from Fishes of Australia, 2026-10-13. Our wording, their facts. Max size 230 cm TL; 190 kg.
facts
- habitat
- reef
- size
- ~100 cm, to 230 cm
Max size from Fishes of Australia (230 cm TL; 190 kg); the typical size is Bluebird’s, not from a cited source
- records
- 1147 at 34 spot(s), none of
them in this region
Recorded at Osprey Reef (Coral Sea), Lizard Island — Cod Wall, Cod Hole (Ribbon Reefs GBR), Bougainville Reef (Coral Sea), Low Isles (Port Douglas), Port Douglas (Outer GBR), Green Island (Cairns), Fitzroy Island (Cairns), Magnetic Island — Geoffrey Bay, SS Yongala Wreck, Marion Reef (Coral Sea), Hardy Reef (Whitsundays), Bait Reef (Whitsundays), Hayman Island — Blue Pearl Bay, Hook Island — Manta Ray Bay, Border Island (Whitsundays — East), Tongue Bay (Whitsunday — North), Cid Harbour (Whitsunday — West), Pioneer Rocks (Whitsundays), North Horn (Coral Sea), Cairns Reef (Great Barrier), Heron Island (GBR), Erskine Island, Lady Musgrave Island, Lady Elliot Island (GBR), Point Lookout (N Stradbroke), Rowley Shoals (WA), Rangiroa (French Polynesia), Sipadan (Malaysia), Misool (Raja Ampat S), Brothers Islands (Egypt), Elphinstone Reef (Egypt), Alimatha (Maldives), Flinders Reefs (Coral Sea). A count of occurrence records, not abundance. Records are where someone looked.
- deepest record
- 9 m
The deepest occurrence record near these spots. This is NOT the species depth range.
when it has been recorded
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A gap means no record in the sample, not absence.
the rule
QLD — No take
source
· verified 2026-10-10
no NSW rule listed — check before you dive
QLD s 23 — closed season 6 November 2026 to 10 November 2026 (20 windows listed)
as regulated coral reef fin fish = any species in Fisheries (General) Regulation 2019, sch 7 pt 2 (tables 1-9) — table 9 (wrasse)
where: coral reef fin fish waters — tidal waters within the boundary from the northern tip of Cape York along latitude 10º41' south ... to latitude 24º50' south, longitude 154º east ... along latitude 24º50' south to the mainland shore
Whether it applies where you dive depends on the spot — open that spot on the map and press “fish here”.
Fisheries Declaration 2019 · Reprint current from 25 September 2026 to date · read 2026-10-13
Rules checked 2026-10-13 against qld.gov.au
Rules change. Check before you dive.
Occurrence data: Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au), CC-BY 4.0.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.
Diver transect counts: Reef Life Survey (reeflifesurvey.com), CC-BY 4.0, supplied via ALA.
Target and protected species: Queensland tidal-water size and possession limits (qld.gov.au) and NSW saltwater bag and size limits plus threatened species lists (dpird.nsw.gov.au).
Habitat and size: Bluebird, approximate, from general knowledge. Not cited. FishBase is CC BY-NC and this app is commercial, so it is not used.
Description written for Bloom. RECORDS ARE WHERE SOMEONE LOOKED, NOT WHERE THE FISH ARE. A record count is a count of records near here and nothing else -- it is not abundance, and a species with few records is not rare. Absence of records is not absence of fish.