Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Scaridae (Parrotfishes) > Scarinae
Etymology: Scarus: Greek, skaros = a fish described by anciente writers as a parrot fish; 1601 (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Valenciennes.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 5 - 75 m (Ref. 9710), usually ? - 20 m. Tropical; 34°N - 26°S, 99°W - 32°W
Western Atlantic: Bermuda, southern Florida (USA), and Bahamas to French Guiana.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 77.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 13628); common length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3802); max. published weight: 7.0 kg (Ref. 5217); max. reported age: 31 years (Ref. 130677)
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 11. With blue-green teeth. Adults generally black or blue-black, with centers of scales and unscaled part of head bright blue, and blue band between eyes. Only large black or blue-black parrotfish in the Caribbean (Ref. 26938).
Occurs from rocky coastal reefs to seaward reefs (Ref. 9710). Often in schools, feeding with surgeonfishes by scraping off algae from rocks or dead coral (Ref. 9710). Marketed fresh and salted (Ref. 5217).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205).
Parenti, P. and J.E. Randall, 2000. An annotated checklist of the species of the labroid fish families Labridae and Scaridae. Ichthyol. Bull. J.L.B. Smith Inst. Ichthyol. (68):1-97. (Ref. 35918)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 25.3 - 28, mean 27.3 °C (based on 96 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01585 (0.00843 - 0.02981), b=3.05 (2.89 - 3.21), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.0 ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (tmax=31).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (51 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 23.8 [15.2, 42.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.624 [0.431, 0.945] mg/100g; Protein = 18.6 [16.6, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.0867 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 25.9 [16.0, 42.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 37.4 [11.4, 121.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.83 [1.36, 2.36] mg/100g (wet weight);
