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Queen Parrotfish

The queen parrotfish has teeth that create beak-like plates, similar to their namesake, parrots!

 

Queen parrotfish are a small tropical fish, found in the shallow reef waters of the Caribbean from Florida in the United States to Venezuela. Like some other reef fish, queen parrotfish have the ability to change sex as they age. All fish are born female, but as they age and grow, they may transition into males. At this point in their life, both females and males are a dull, blueish-brown color. However, there’s still one more change these fish can go through! After their initial transition, larger males can go through a final change to become “supermales” and display the striking colors parrotfish are known for: shades of green and blue, with bright yellow centers in their scales and yellow lines between their eyes and mouth. There is usually one supermale amidst each queen parrotfish school, accompanied by three or four other fish, primarily females. When the supermale of this school dies, the largest female will change sex and transition to take the supermale’s place.

These fish are not especially strong swimmers, and primarily get around using their pectoral fins rather than their tail for speed. Only active during the day, queen parrotfish spend their nights sleeping in crevices, protected by a mucus they produce! They primarily feed on algae and coral; using their beaks they scrape and grind their food finely! Queen parrotfish also play an important role in reef dynamics and sedimentation as they produce sand through their digestion of corals.

 

 

The queen parrotfish is caught in multi-species fisheries throughout its range, but there is no evidence to suggest a global decline of its population. However, there have been severe declines in reefs close to densely populated areas around Haiti and Jamaica.

 

 

As oceans warm, the impacts on coral reefs are immense. Queen parrotfish rely on healthy coral reefs for habitat and food. Oceana campaigns to protect critical habitat like this through the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and tackling the climate crisis by stopping the expansion of offshore drilling.

 

 

 

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