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Parrotfish
Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a Family (biology), family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a significant role in bioerosion. Description Parrotfish are named for their dentition, 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 (which contributes to the process of bioerosion). Maximum sizes vary within the family, with the majority of species reaching in length. However, a few species reach lengths in excess of , and the green humphead parrotfish can reach up to . The smallest species is the Cryptotomus roseus, bluelip parrotfish (''Cryptotomus roseus''), which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolbometopon
The green humphead parrotfish (''Bolbometopon muricatum'') is the largest species of parrotfish, growing to lengths of and weighing up to . It is found on reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea in the west to Samoa in the east, and from the Yaeyama Islands in the north to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, in the south. Other common names include bumphead parrotfish, humphead parrotfish, double-headed parrotfish, buffalo parrotfish, and giant parrotfish. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Bolbometopon'' and is the largest herbivorous fish inhabiting coral reefs. Species description Unlike wrasses, it has a vertical head profile, and unlike other parrotfishes, it is uniformly covered with scales except for the leading edge of the head, which is often light green to pink. Primary phase colouration is a dull gray with scattered white spots, gradually becoming uniformly dark green. This species does not display sex-associated patterns of color chan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Humphead Parrotfish
The green humphead parrotfish (''Bolbometopon muricatum'') is the largest species of parrotfish, growing to lengths of and weighing up to . It is found on reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea in the west to Samoa in the east, and from the Yaeyama Islands in the north to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, in the south. Other common names include bumphead parrotfish, humphead parrotfish, double-headed parrotfish, buffalo parrotfish, and giant parrotfish. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Bolbometopon'' and is the largest herbivorous fish inhabiting coral reefs. Species description Unlike wrasses, it has a vertical head profile, and unlike other parrotfishes, it is uniformly covered with scales except for the leading edge of the head, which is often light green to pink. Primary phase colouration is a dull gray with scattered white spots, gradually becoming uniformly dark green. This species does not display sex-associated patterns of color chan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Parrotfish
The queen parrotfish (''Scarus vetula'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish, in the family Scaridae. It is found on reefs in the tropical West Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Other common names include blownose, blue chub, blue parrotfish, blueman, joblin crow parrot, moontail, okra peji and slimy head. The young males and adult female queen parrotfish are a reddish-brown color, and quite different in appearance from the bluish-green color of the final phase male. This is a common species throughout its range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "least concern". Description Adult queen parrotfishes are heavy-bodied fish with fusiform (spindle-shaped) bodies and beak-like mouths, growing to a length of about . They have two different color phases. Among smaller fish, the sexes are similar but nearly all individuals are female, being reddish-brown or grayish-brown with a paler head and a white lateral st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian. Sometimes called ''rainforests of the sea'', shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarus
''Scarus'' is a genus of parrotfishes. With 52 currently recognised extant species,Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds''Scarus''.FishBase. 2013. it is by far the largest genus in this family. The vast majority are found at reefs in the Indo-Pacific, but a small number of species are found in the warmer parts of the eastern Pacific and the western Atlantic, with a single species, ''Scarus hoefleri'' in the eastern Atlantic. Most are very colourful, and have strikingly different initial (males and females) and terminal (males only) phases. Adults of most species reach maximum lengths of between , but the rainbow parrotfish (''Scarus guacamaia'') can grow to lengths of . Species There are currently 52 recognised species in this genus: *'' Scarus altipinnis'' (Steindachner, 1879) (filament-finned parrotfish) *'' Scarus arabicus'' (Steindachner, 1902) (Arabian parrotfish) *'' Scarus caudofasciatus'' ( Günther, 1862) (red-barred parrotfish) *'' Scarus chameleon'' Choat & Randall, 1986 (c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leptoscarus
The marbled parrotfish (''Leptoscarus vaigiensis''), also known as the seagrass parrotfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish from the family Scaridae and is the only known member of the genus ''Leptoscarus''. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution and is also found in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is a coastal species found in beds of sea grass and seaweed. Description 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. On the head the females have broad bands which radiate from the eyes. This species has 9 spines and 10 soft rays in the dorsal fin while the anal fin has 3 spines and 9 soft rays and there are 13 rays in the pectoral fin. The distinctive narrow dental plates are fused into a parrot-like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarus Frenatus
''Scarus frenatus'' is a species of parrotfish. Common names include bridled parrotfish, sixband or six-banded parrotfish or vermiculate parrotfish. Description This species grows to a maximum length of 47 cm, and can be distinguished by its patterns and colouration. Its appearance changes during its life phases. During the initial phase, it has a reddish to brown colour, six to seven dark, horizontal stripes along its body, and red fins. In males, during the terminal phase, the posterior of the body and the lower half of the head appear abruptly lighter. Also, in males, the caudal fins appear blue-green with a large, orange, crescent-shaped area. Distribution ''Scarus frenatus'' is found in the Indo-Pacific region from the Red Sea to the Line Islands and Ducie Island, and as far north as southern Japan, to its southernmost location at Shark Bay in Western Australia, Lord Howe Island, and Rapa Iti in French Polynesia. It is not found in the waters of Hawaii. Habitat and beh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrasse
The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them less than long, although the largest, the humphead wrasse, can measure up to . They are efficient carnivores, feeding on a wide range of small invertebrates. Many smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger fish, picking up invertebrates disturbed by their passing. Juveniles of some representatives of the genera ''Bodianus'', ''Epibulus'', ''Cirrhilabrus'', ''Oxycheilinus'', and ''Paracheilinus'' hide among the tentacles of the free-living mushroom corals & ''Heliofungia actiniformis''. The word "wrasse" comes from the Cornish word ''wragh'', a lenited form of ''gwragh'', meaning an old woman or hag, via Cornish dialect ''wrath''. It is related to the Welsh ''gwrach'' and Breton ''gwrac'h''. Distribution Most wrasses inhabit the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sparisoma
''Sparisoma'' is a genus of parrotfishes native to warmer parts of the Atlantic. FishBase recognizes 15 species in this genus, including ''S. rocha'' described from Trindade Island in 2010 and ''S. choati'' described from the East Atlantic in 2012.Rocha, Brito, and Robertson (2012). ''Sparisoma choati, a new species of Parrotfish (Labirdae: Scarinae) from the tropical eastern Atlantic''. Zootaxa, 3152: 61-67. They are the most important grazers of algae in the Caribbean Sea, especially since sea urchins, especially '' Diadema'', the other prominent consumers of algae, have been reduced in many places by a recent epidemic. The name was proposed by William John Swainson as a subgenus of '' Scarus''. ''Sparus'' in Latin is a golden-headed fish, and ''soma'' means "body". The common spelling ''Sparisomus'' is incorrect. The size of parrotfishes of this genus range from the rather small-sized ''S. radians'' with a known maximum length of to the large ''S. viride'', which reaches len ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calotomus
''Calotomus'' is a parrotfish genus from the Indo-Pacific, with a single species ranging into the warmer parts of the east Pacific. Compared to most of their relatives, their colours are relatively dull. Several species in this genus are associated with sea grass beds, but most can also be seen at reefs. Species The genus includes these extant species: * '' Calotomus carolinus'' (Valenciennes, 1840) (Carolines parrotfish) * '' Calotomus japonicus'' (Valenciennes, 1840) (Japanese parrotfish) * '' Calotomus spinidens'' ( Quoy & Gaimard Joseph Paul Gaimard (31 January 1793 – 10 December 1858) was a French naval surgeon and naturalist. Biography Gaimard was born at Saint-Zacharie on January 31, 1793. He studied medicine at the naval medical school in Toulon, subsequent ..., 1824) (Spinytooth parrotfish) * '' Calotomus viridescens'' ( Rüppell, 1835) (Viridescent parrotfish) * '' Calotomus zonarchus'' ( Jenkins, 1903) (Yellowbar parrotfish) The fossil species, '' C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bioerosion
Bioerosion describes the breakdown of hard ocean substrates – and less often terrestrial substrates – by living organisms. Marine bioerosion can be caused by mollusks, polychaete worms, phoronids, sponges, crustaceans, echinoids, and fish; it can occur on coastlines, on coral reefs, and on ships; its mechanisms include biotic boring, drilling, rasping, and scraping. On dry land, bioerosion is typically performed by pioneer plants or plant-like organisms such as lichen, and mostly chemical (e.g. by acidic secretions on limestone) or mechanical (e.g. by roots growing into cracks) in nature. Bioerosion of coral reefs generates the fine and white coral sand characteristic of tropical islands. The coral is converted to sand by internal bioeroders such as algae, fungi, bacteria (microborers) and sponges (Clionaidae), bivalves (including '' Lithophaga''), sipunculans, polychaetes, acrothoracican barnacles and phoronids, generating extremely fine sediment with diameters of 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labrid
The wrasses are a family, Labridae, of marine fish, many of which are brightly colored. The family is large and diverse, with over 600 species in 81 genera, which are divided into 9 subgroups or tribes. They are typically small, most of them less than long, although the largest, the humphead wrasse, can measure up to . They are efficient carnivores, feeding on a wide range of small invertebrates. Many smaller wrasses follow the feeding trails of larger fish, picking up invertebrates disturbed by their passing. Juveniles of some representatives of the genera ''Bodianus'', ''Epibulus'', ''Cirrhilabrus'', ''Oxycheilinus'', and ''Paracheilinus'' hide among the tentacles of the free-living mushroom corals & ''Heliofungia actiniformis''. The word "wrasse" comes from the Cornish word ''wragh'', a lenited form of ''gwragh'', meaning an old woman or hag, via Cornish dialect ''wrath''. It is related to the Welsh ''gwrach'' and Breton ''gwrac'h''. Distribution Most wrasses inhabit the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
