“The number of these two fish species still left is lower than the number of Chinese white dolphins in the waters around Taiwan’s west coast,” Taiwanese Coral Reef Society (TCRS) chairperson Cheng Ming-shou (鄭明修) said.

TCRS secretary-general Chang Ming-lung (張銘隆) said that both the Napoleonfish and the bumphead parrotfish are considered giant species of the marine reef community, and they used to be quite common in the coral reefs near the shores of Taiwan.

However, they are now on the brink of extinction, after many years of unregulated harvesting by fishermen and spear fishing by recreational divers, he said.