Asian Sheephead Wrasse

The Asian sheepshead wrasse (Semicossyphus reticulatus) is found in China, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, and coral reefs. Its unusual appearance has earned it international media attention.

Many think that the face of the wrasse looks like Shrek!

One of the largest wrasses, the Asian sheepshead wrasse is an extraordinary pinkish-grey fish with large, swelling-like protrusions on the ‘forehead’ and ‘chin’. Like its close relative, the California sheepshead wrasse (Semicossyphus pulcher), the juvenile is starkly different from the adult, being a vivid yellowish-orange with a white stripe from the eye to the tail, black patches on the fins and tail, and lacking the bulbous face protrusions of the adults, for which the species earns its common name.