humphead wrasses often crack sea urchins (echinoids) by carrying them to a rock in their mouths and striking them against the rock with brisk, sideways head movements. They sometimes engage in cooperative hunting with the roving coral grouper. Adults are commonly found on steep coral reef slopes, channel slopes, and lagoon reefs in water deep. The species actively selects branching hard and soft corals and seagrasses at settlement. Juveniles tend to prefer a more cryptic existence in areas of dense branching corals, bushy macroalgae or seagrasses, while larger individuals and adults prefer limited home ranges in more open habitat on the edges of reefs, channels and reef passes. Conservation The humphead wrasse is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red list and in Appendix II of CITES. Its numbers have declined due to multiple threats, including: Intensive, species-specific removal by the live reef food-fish trade throughout its core range in Southeast Asia Destructive fishing techniques, including bombs and cyanide Habitat loss and degradation Local consumption, and its perception as a delicacy to locals and tourists A developing export market for juveniles for the marine aquarium trade Lack of coordinated, consistent national and regional management Inadequate knowledge of the species Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Unsustainable and severe overfishing within the live reef food fish trade is the primary threat. Sabah, on Borneo Island, is a major source of humphead wrasses. The fishing industry is vital to this state because of its severe poverty. The export of humphead wrasses out of Sabah has led to a roughly 99% decline in the area's population. In an effort to protect it, export of the humphead wrasse out of Sabah has been banned; however, it has not prevented illegal, unreported and unregulated activities. Protection by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is managed in this area by the federal Department of Fisheries Malaysia, , which issues permits to regulate fishing activity. Two pieces of legislation have also been implemented to protect the species: The Fisheries Act 1985 controls the transport of live fish and prohibits destructive fishing techniques; and the Trade of Endangered Species Act 2008 supports Malaysia's adoption of CITES. The humphead wrasse is considered an umbrella species, which means many other species are sympatric with it and have much smaller ranges—thus the conservation of the humphead wrasse's habitat would benefit these other species as