Parrotfish

History of parrotfish

The color of a parrotfish can be red, green, blue, yellow, gray, brown, or black. Males and females of the same species often look different. A female parrotfish can turn into a male, just like a wrasse can. Like moray eels, parrotfish have a second set of teeth at the back of their throat. These are called pharyngeal teeth.

The corals and plants that grow on rocks in the reef are what these reef fish eat. They use their strong, fused teeth that look like beaks to break up bits of hard corals. The coral polyps that grow on top of the hard base are what feed the coral. Zooxanthellae are parasitic algae that live inside these coral polyps.

Save the World

Parrotfish are very important to coral reef growth because they eat algae that would otherwise cover up the coral. Coral reefs need to be healthy for parrotfish numbers to stay healthy. But things like global warming, pollution, hunting, and building along the coast are very bad for coral reefs and the animals that live in them. A recent census called Reef Check surveyed about 300 coral reefs around the world over the course of five years with the help of scientists, about 5,000 volunteer scuba divers, and local fishermen.

The numbers of animals in coral reefs were found to have dropped by a large amount. Spiny lobsters and bumphead parrotfish, for example, aren’t found where they used to be on reefs. Partly because of too much fishing, the number of Nassau groupers has dropped by a lot, and sea cucumbers are missing from half of the islands that were checked. There is some good news, though: populations of important species are growing in marine sanctuaries where fishing is regulated.

Diet of Coral

The parrotfish’s main food source is algae that it gets from coral that has been torn off of a reef. The fish’s mouth has grinding teeth that break up the coral so that the algae-filled polyps inside can be reached. The parrotfish eat coral, and a lot of the sand in their home is made up of the coral they don’t digest yet.

Color and Having sex

They can change sex many times during their lives, and their coloring and patterns are hard to classify because they are so different between males, females, and young animals of the same species.

Interesting facts

The side fins on a parrotfish help it swim by moving along with them. These are the same ways that wrasses move. Pay attention to how the sheepheads and señoritas swim the next time you come to our Kelp Forest show. They are both wrasses.

Every year, parrotfish make a lot of coral reef sand—up to a ton of sand for every acre of reef. A fish eats the algae film that grows on coral rock, which starts the process of making sand. Pieces of coral are eaten by the fish so it can eat algae. Its throat has teeth that look like molars that grind up the coral. The coral then goes through its digestive system and ends up in the sea as white coral sand.
It’s hard to tell what kind of parrotfish something is because their color patterns change with age and sex. In the past, scientists named more than 350 species based on their different color forms. These days, only about 80 species are left.

The parrotfish lives during the day. It digs holes in the sand or hides in cracks at night. Some species even make a clear mucus cage around themselves at night. This probably hides their smell and keeps sharks and moray eels from eating them.
People in the US don’t eat their meat very often, but in many other parts of the world, it is a treat. In Polynesia, it is given raw, and it used to be thought of as “royal food,” something that only the king could eat.