''Calotomus'' is a

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 ...

genus from the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, with a single species ranging into the warmer parts of the east

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Compared to most of their relatives, their colours are relatively dull. Several species in this genus are associated with

sea grass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...

beds, but most can also be seen at

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

Species

The genus includes these

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

species: * '' Calotomus carolinus'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, 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, '' Calotomus preisli'' has been recovered from middle Miocene beds from Austria, suggesting the Paratethys Sea might have been tropical.

References

*
Bony fish in the online Sepkoski Database
Scaridae Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert Marine fish genera {{Perciformes-stub