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Home > Fishes
> Parrotfishes
Family
Scaridae
Parrotfishes
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Parrotfishes
are common on reefs where they feed upon algae and form harems.
These thick-bodied fish have stout jaws composed of fused teeth for
nibbling tough seaweeds or gnaw away coralline algae and live
coral. Bony plates within the throat pulverize the mix into fine
sand which eventually passes through the digestive tract to be deposited
back on the reef. They swim using the pectoral fins and start life
as females which are generally gray, red, or brown. Large fish may
eventually switch gender and assume a color pattern that includes some
blue, green or yellow. In Hawai‘i parrotfishes are especially popular on the dinner table
and threatened by overfishing. |
Bite marks on Porites coral
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Bite marks on coralline algae |
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HAWAII
| Calotomus carolinus
STAREYE PARROTFISH,
Female
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Calotomus carolinus
STAREYE PARROTFISH,
Male |
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Calotomus zonarchus
YELLOWBAR PARROTFISH,
Female
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Calotomus zonarchus
YELLOWBAR PARROTFISH,
Male
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| Scarus dubius
REGAL PARROTFISH,
Female
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Scarus dubius
REGAL PARROTFISH,
Male
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| Scarus psittacus
PALENOSE PARROTFISH,
Female
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Scarus psittacus
PALENOSE PARROTFISH,
Male
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| Scarus rubroviolaceus
REDLIP PARROTFISH,
Female
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Scarus rubroviolaceus
REDLIP PARROTFISH,
Male |
| Chlorurus
spilurus
BULLETHEAD PARROTFISH,
Female
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Chlorurus
spilurus
BULLETHEAD PARROTFISH,
Male
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| Chlorurus
perspicillatus
SPECTACLED PARROTFISH,
Female
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Chlorurus
perspicillatus
SPECTACLED PARROTFISH,
Male |
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INDO-PACIFIC
| Cetoscarus
ocellatus
SPOTTED
PARROTFISH, Juvenile |
Scarus
ghobban
BLUEBARRED
PARROTFISH, Female |
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JAPAN
| Calotomus
japonicus
JAPANESE
PARROTFISH, Female |
Calotomus
japonicus
JAPANESE
PARROTFISH, Male
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TROPICAL WESTERN ATLANTIC
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Sparisoma
aurofrenatum
REDBAND
PARROTFISH,
Female
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Sparisoma
aurofrenatum |
| Sparisoma
viride
STOPLIGHT
PARROTFISH, Female
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Sparisoma
viride
STOPLIGHT
PARROTFISH, Male
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| Scarus
taeniopterus
PRINCESS
PARROTFISH,
Female
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Scarus
taeniopterus
PRINCESS
PARROTFISH,
Male
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| Sparisoma
rubripinne
YELLOWTAIL
PARROTFISH,
Female
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Scarus
iseri
STRIPED
PARROTFISH, Male
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| Scarus
coeruleus
BLUE PARROTFISH, Male
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Scarus
vetula
QUEEN
PARROTFISH, Male |
| Scarus
guacamaia
RAINBOW PARROTFISH, Male
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