Humphead Wrasse

Photo: Raphael Forns · CC BY-NC

Solitary humphead wrasse patrol the deeper sections of the Nagato, their massive green-blue bodies and prominent foreheads making them one of the most recognizable large fish on the wreck. They crush hard-shelled invertebrates — sea urchins, molluscs, and starfish — with powerful pharyngeal jaws, and are one of very few fish capable of eating crown-of-thorns starfish, which gives them an outsized role in protecting coral from these destructive predators.