Blue parrotfish

This article is about the fish in the Scarus genus. For the fish in the Sparisoma genus, see Sparisoma chrysopterum.

Blue parrotfish
File:Scarus coeruleus 109602038.jpg
Blue parrotfish in Florida
Conservation status
Least Concern Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Labriformes
Family:	Labridae
Genus:	Scarus
Species:	S. coeruleus
Binomial name
Scarus coeruleus Edwards, 1771
File:Blue Parrotfish Scarus coeruleus distribution map.png
Blue parrotfish range.
Synonyms
Coryphaena coerulea Edwards, 1771 Coryphaena coerulea Bloch, 1786 Scarus coeruleus (Bloch, 1786) Scarus loro Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Calliodon gibbosus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Scarus trilobatus Lacépède, 1802 Sparus holocyaneos Lacepède, 1802 Scarus obtusus Poey, 1860 Scarus nuchalis Poey, 1860

The blue parrotfish (Scarus coeruleus) is a member of the parrotfish genus Scarus. It is found on coral reefs in shallow water in the tropical and subtropical parts of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. They usually forage in a group of 500 individuals for spawning and deterring predators while feeding.

Description

They are uniformly blue with a yellow spot on their heads that fades as they age. They average 30 to 75 centimetres (12 to 30 in) in length with a maximum length of 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in). They develop a large "beak" like other parrotfish that is used for scraping algae and small organisms from rocks. They have pharyngeal teeth that grind ingested rocks into sand. No other species has this uniform blue color as adults. They weigh about 9.1 kilograms (20 lb).

• In Florida
  In Florida
• In the Bahamas
  In the Bahamas

Reproduction

In summer, blue parrotfish gather in spawning groups. Sexual interaction occurs and the females deposit their eggs into the water column after which they sink to the seabed. The eggs hatch after about twenty-five hours. Some special characteristics found in only female blue parrotfish are that there is an existence of an annual immature all-female group. The other is that females in the sexually mixed group spawn without any seasonality.

Distribution and habitat

Blue parrotfish are found on coral reefs at depths of 3–25 m (9.8–82.0 ft) in the western Atlantic from Maryland in the United States to Bermuda, the Bahamas, and south to Brazil. They are also found throughout the West Indies but are absent from the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico. Juveniles are found in beds of turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum).

The Scarus Coeruleus fish greatly depend on coral reef systems to provide them with various food sources; however, this ecosystem has become threatened, which has now put the blue parrotfish and many other species endangered of becoming extinct from lack of food availability.

Diet

Their diet consists of small organisms found in the algae that they scrape off rocks. They are described as professional sand-suckers, due to their foraging of food amongst the sandy areas that surround the reef. They spend 80 percent of their time searching for food.

Status

The blue parrotfish has a wide range and is abundant in much of that range, some of which are in marine conservation areas. Although larger individuals are targeted by fishermen, the population of this fish seems to be stable overall. For these reasons, the IUCN has listed this fish as being of "Least Concern".

External links

• Photos of Blue parrotfish in the Sealife Collection