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The Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense) is a species of parrotfish found at depths up to 50 m (160 ft) along rocky shores in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from Portugal south to Senegal. [1] [2] [3] It is generally common, but uncommon or rare (locally even absent) in the northwestern Mediterranean and in the Adriatic Sea.
Their main source of food is algae, which they scrape from coral and other hard substrates using their beak. Through this process, the parrotfish also consumes carbonate sediments and assists in moving sediment around the reef. The midnight parrotfish can take up to 16,000 bites a day as an adult, and 28,000 a day as a juvenile. [6]
Parrotfish skeleton. Parrotfish are named for their dentition, [5] which is distinct from other fish, including other labrids.Their numerous teeth are arranged in a tightly packed mosaic on the external surface of their jaw bones, forming a parrot-like beak with which they rasp algae from coral and other rocky substrates [6] (which contributes to the process of bioerosion).
Chlorurus sordidus is one of the most widespread species of parrotfish, and it is highly variable with some of the geographically determined forms probably being at least subspecies. It occurs in both coral rich and open pavement areas of shallow reef flats, in lagoon reefs and seaward reefs, it can also be found at drop-offs.
Chlorurus capistratoides, commonly known as the Indian parrotfish or the pink-margined parrotfish, is a marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish from the family Scaridae. This species is native to the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean, where it lives in coral reefs. [ 2 ]
Drawing by Francis Day. The marbled parrotfish is brown to green with darker mottling on the back fading to yellow or greenish ventrally. The males are marked with a pale longitudinal strip along their flanks and the head, body, dorsal fin and anal fin are marked with small blue spots. The females are mottled brown and white. [3]
The princess parrotfish (Scarus taeniopterus) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish, in the family Scaridae. [2] It is typically 20 to 25 centimetres (7.9 to 9.8 in) long, found in the Caribbean, South Florida , the Bahamas, and Bermuda. [ 3 ]
The dusky parrotfish is a protogynous hermaphrodite, as evidenced by instances where a dominant female in a group with only females turned into a male. The dusky parrotfish is oviparous, so when breeding, the male and female fishes form pairs and the female lays eggs that later hatch.