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).
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 3 - 25 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 39°N - 24°S, 98°W - 31°W
Western Atlantic: Maryland in the USA, Bermuda and Bahamas to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Ref. 13628), including the West Indies (Ref. 3802); absent in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?, range 31 - ? cm
Max length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3802)
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 9. Adults uniformly blue, with yellow area on top of head that disappears in larger fish. Large fish develop prominent bulging snout and extended upper and lower caudal fin lobes. No other species has this uniform blue color in adults. (Ref. 26938).
Inhabits coral reefs. Juveniles found on Thalassia beds (Ref. 13628). Feeds on benthic plants and small organisms in the sand (Ref. 5521). Forms large spawning aggregations (Ref. 9710).
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 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
Tools
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 26.1 - 28.2, mean 27.4 °C (based on 685 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01288 (0.00726 - 0.02285), b=3.04 (2.89 - 3.19), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 2.0 ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 3.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate vulnerability (42 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 21.2 [13.4, 36.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.618 [0.415, 0.940] mg/100g; Protein = 18.9 [16.7, 20.7] %; Omega3 = 0.0733 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 24.4 [14.4, 40.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 26.2 [7.6, 89.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.64 [1.22, 2.15] mg/100g (wet weight);
