''Sparisoma chrysopterum'' (common names: redtail parrotfish, blue parrotfish, kwab, pink kwab, pink parrot, blisterside, and blue black-finned chub) is a species of

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 ...

Description

The upper end of the pectoral fin base shows black saddle-shaped markings while they are young adults. Commonly, there is a light, saddle-shaped area on top of caudal peduncle. The dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins are orange or red in colour. Juvenile specimens or those in the initial phase have a mottled pattern similar to the substratum. This provides camouflage when they rest on the sea floor.

Distribution

This species lives in the western

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the south, north to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. It also occurs throughout the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

Diet

''Sparisoma chrysopterum'' This species grazes on seagrasses and

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

growing in the

benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

Parasites

This species is known to host an

ectoparasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

in the genus ''

Caligus ''Caligus'' is a genus of sea lice in the family Caligidae. The species are parasites of marine fishes and could be vectors of viruses. , the World Register of Marine Species includes the following species: *'' Caligus absens'' Ho, Lin & Che ...

'' named ''

Caligus atromaculatus ''Caligus'' is a genus of sea lice in the family Caligidae. The species are parasites of marine fishes and could be vectors of viruses. , the World Register of Marine Species includes the following species: *'' Caligus absens'' Ho, Lin & Chen, ...

'' (C.B. Wilson, 1913).

Species description and taxonomy

''Sparisoma chrysopterum'' was first described as ''Scarus chrysopterus'' in 1801 by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

naturalists

Marcus Elieser Bloch Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) was a German physician and naturalist who is best known for his contribution to ichthyology through his multi-volume catalog of plates illustrating the fishes of the world. Brought up in a Hebrew-speaking Jewish ...

(1723-1799) and

Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider (18 January 1750 – 12 January 1822) was a German classicist and naturalist. Biography Schneider was born at Collm in Saxony. In 1774, on the recommendation of Christian Gottlob Heine, he became secretary to ...

(1750-1822) with the type locality given as "tropical western Atlantic". When

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

described the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 20 ...

'' in 1839 he designated ''Sparus abildgaardi'' as its

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

, Although the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''abildgaardi'' would appear to have precedence over ''chrysopterum'', the latter is the more widely used name and the former was long mistakenly thought to be synonymous with ''

Sparisoma viride The stoplight parrotfish (''Sparisoma viride'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish from the Family (biology), family Scaridae, inhabiting coral reefs in Florida, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and as far south as Brazil. ...

''. The name ''Sparus abildgaardi'' was suppressed by the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

and ''Scarus chrysopterus'' was recognised as the type species.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2340160 chrysopterum Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Dominican Republic Taxa named by Marcus Elieser Bloch Taxa named by Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider Fish described in 1801