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You are here:Animalia>Fish>Obvious scales>Parrotfishes>Queen Parrotfish

Queen Parrotfish

Aspect: All parrotfishes sport a strong elongated oval body boasting large scales, prominent mouth with bill-like frontal teeth (hence the name) with which they bite away at coral.
Population: Common.
Notable feature:

Initial (or intermediate) phase: Overal dark grey body with white longitudinal patch from pectoral fin aft, maroon tail fin.

Terminal (adult): generally dull green-grey body with characteristic green or blue bars above mouth plus another larger one under the mouth often interrupted by a pink bar. Horizontal green patch also adorns upper part of the eyes.

Environment: Swims around rocks and coral boulders from which it violently bites off coral and algae. Builds a protective film bubble when sleeping at night under rock recesses, as seen in one of the photos below.
Behaviour: Can be approached to about one metre.
  • French designation: Perroquet Royal
  • Latin designation: Scarus Vetula
  • Creole designation: Chat
  • Latin family: Scaridae
  • Size (cm): 30-45