Sumei fish, also known as corrugated lip fish, is a genus of lip fish in the subfamily Lipfish subfamily Of the family Bulbophyllaceae. Adults are iron-blue throughout and have prominent lips and a raised forehead. It is mainly found in Southeast Asia, the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, and inhabits the sea of rocky reefs and corals overgrown with algae. It has long been traded as an economic fish, and its meat is tender and famous for its deliciousness. But it has also been decimated by overfishing, which has led to a sharp decline in its numbers and is now listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
There are many names for the fish, known in English as Napoleon Sesaker, Bulbophine, and in Chinese as Sumei or Corrugated Lip Fish. The "Su eyebrow" originates from two stripes at the back of its eyes that resemble eyebrows. It is the largest and longest-lived coral fish, which can generally live for more than 30 years. However, its growth period is also long, generally taking 7-8 years. Adults have distinct and colorful markings, and each fish has a unique pattern on its face that radiates outward from the eyes, like a human fingerprint.
The general body length is 40 cm, the weight is 1.5-2.5 kg, and the larger body length can reach 70-80 cm. The body is oblong-ovate in shape, and the contour of the head is straight from the back to the eye, and then protrudes. Adults have a prominent forehead and small eyes, located on the upper side of the head, very raised at the distance between the eyes, and two parallel black bands pass through the eyes of the head. The mouth is large obliquely lobed, and the upper and lower jaws have a column of tapered teeth, and a pair of large canine teeth at the front end. The body is covered with large round scales , the head and neck are dark green , the sides of the body are yellowish green , and the back of the body has dark wavy stripes.
The fish is a hermaphrodite, female-first mature fish, and an important feature of this type of fish is that it can change sex over a certain period of time. Most fish remain gender-neutral after birth, and only a small percentage of adult females have a chance to become males. The larger females in this small group have the opportunity to become super-males. This often happens when another super male leader dies. The super male sumei is the leader of a group of sumei fish, which is larger than all other males and has a unique color and pattern. During the breeding season, super-male sumacs mate with most females.