Midnight parrotfish
| Midnight parrotfish | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Midnight parrotfish |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Scarus coelestinus | ||||||||||||
| Valenciennes , 1840 |
The midnight parrotfish ( Scarus coelestinus ) is a species of parrotfish that occurs in the tropical western Atlantic from Bermuda and the coast of southern Florida across the Caribbean to the coast of southeastern Brazil.
features
The species becomes about half a meter long, but can also get much larger. Lengths of up to 77 cm and a weight of 7 kg are documented. The midnight parrotfish is blackish to dark blue in color. The center of numerous scales and the flaky areas on the head are light blue, as is a narrow band between the eyes. The teeth are green-blue. The midnight parrotfish is the only parrotfish species of this color in the tropical western Atlantic and is therefore unmistakable. There is no sexual dimorphism and juvenile fish and adult fish are colored very similarly.
- Fin formula : dorsal IX / 10 anal III / 11.
Way of life
Midnight parrotfish usually live at depths of 5 to 20 meters, and more rarely at depths of up to 75 meters. They feed primarily on algae and other growth that they scrape off rocks and hard corals . The species forms small schools, often with surgeon fish .
literature
- Baensch / Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 7 Perciformes (Perch-like) , Mergus-Verlag, Melle, 1998, ISBN 3-88244-107-0
Web links
- Midnight parrotfish on Fishbase.org (English)