Napoleon Wrasses are strikingly colourful—females are rusty red-orange in colour, while males display bright blue-green hues. Their strong, beak-like jaws, with teeth fused together, help them feed on hard-shelled prey. A second set of pharyngeal teeth, located in the throat, crushes and processes their prey further before digestion.

Napoleon Wrasses are one of the few predators that can eat toxic animals like Crown-of-thorns Sea Stars, boxfishes, and sea hares. Crown-of thorns Sea Stars are voracious predators of corals and harm coral reefs when their numbers grow uncontrolled. By feeding on these potentially harmful species, they help keep populations in balance and play an important role in keeping reef ecosystems healthy.

Widespread habitat damage and overfishing have led to Napoleon Wrasses being listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their slow reproduction makes it harder for populations to recover. Fishing methods used to catch them, such as using sodium cyanide to stun fish, also damage live corals and harm the reef.