| Parrotfishes belong to the Scaridae family,
which has about 80 species in the circumtropical
regions. Their characteristic feature is the
mouth, which has two robust incisor teeth that
are joined and create a "beak" that can easily
break madrepores and pick up tiny algae off the
rocks. Their body is covered with large scales
and has a single dorsal fin; the pectoral fins
are well developed and their brilliant
coloration varies according to sex and age.
Female parrotfishes change sex during their
lifetime. These fishes also use their pectoral
fins for propulsion and feed mostly on algae
during the day.
Thanks to their special teeth, parrotfishes
can break and crush madrepore corals, which they
expel in the form of fine-grained sand. This
characteristic of the Scaridae is responsible
for the coralline beaches: the annual production
of this fine sand by a single parrotfish has
been estimated at hundreds of kilograms.
At night these fishes sleep in the reef
crevices, wrapped in a "case" of mucus that they
secrete to protect themselves from predators. |
