The Seattle Aquarium is excited to announce Tandu the humphead wrasse just moved into his new home in the Ocean Pavilion! He joins thousands of other tropical fish, as well as sharks, rays, and a bowmouth guitarfish in The Reef habitat. You can find videos and photos of Tandu here.
“We’re ecstatic to welcome Tandu to The Reef alongside his new neighbors,” said Andy Sim, the Aquarium’s Curator of Tropical Fish and Invertebrates. “Our team has spent the last several months preparing him for the move through dedicated care and target training, ensuring he’s comfortable and confident in his new environment. Tandu is a fantastic addition to the habitat.”
Getting to know Tandu
Tandu came to us from Singapore Oceanarium at Resorts World Sentosa, where he’d been living for four years—but his story begins before then. He was illegally imported into Hong Kong, where he was rescued and spent about two years at Ocean Park Hong Kong. Because he was confiscated from traffickers, his original source location couldn’t be confirmed, and it wasn’t possible to return him to the wild. That’s why he moved to Singapore Aquarium and from there, to the Seattle Aquarium.
Saving Face: a first-of-its-kind conservation tool
In human care, Tandu not only serves as an ambassador for his endangered species; he’s also part of a new endeavor to protect it. Saving Face is a research project, led by Dr. Yvonne Sadovy and Dr. Loby Hau, focused on detecting and preventing humphead wrasse trafficking.
By photographing the facial markings of individual wrasses over time, Dr. Sadovy and Dr. Hau have demonstrated that each fish can be identified by its own unique markings—just as we humans have unique fingerprints—and the markings remain stable over time. This enables individuals to be identified and tracked by their facial markings. The next step is to take a “community science” approach with the future launch of the new Saving Face app, where people can take photos and share locations of wrasse in fish markets and restaurants throughout Asia. The goal is to eventually check the wrasse facial markings against a database that would allow authorities to determine if the fish was sold to a market without the proper permits.
“We’re proud to support this groundbreaking research,” Andy said. “As part of this initiative, Tandu serves as an ambassador for his species while also helping further efforts to curb the illegal fish trade.”
You can see Tandu in his new home, along with thousands of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals by visiting the Seattle Aquarium, open everyday from 9:30am – 6pm.
About the Seattle Aquarium:
Founded in 1977, the Seattle Aquarium is a marine conservation organization working to regenerate the health of Earth’s one ocean. We work among global leaders to advance animal wellbeing, marine and ecosystem science, public policy, field conservation, education, and species recovery programs that benefit the ocean. Help support the Aquarium’s mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.
On the web: SeattleAquarium.org
On Facebook: facebook.com/Aquarium.Seattle
On Instagram: instagram.com/seattleaquarium
On Youtube: youtube.com/seattleaquarium
