Parrotfish can change sex from female to male. After they are released in the water, they will begin hatching after approximately 25 hours. Reproduction: Females will release fertilized eggs into the water column until they settle near the bottom. Size: Their average size in length is 11-29 inches (30-75 cm).īehavior: They spend 80% of their time searching for food.ĭiet: They feed on algae and small organisms found in the sand. Their pharyngeal teeth (throat teeth) are used for grinding rocks into sand. Their teeth are fused together, giving them a beak-like jaw (somewhat resembles the beak of a parrot, thus its common name) The beak is used for scraping algae from rocks and other rocky surfaces. Sometimes, initial phase males will mimic themselves as a female and attempt to join a harem in order to try and fertilize eggs and take over.Description: Blue parrotfish are mainly blue with a yellow spot on their head that fades as they get older. When this fish dies, one of the second phase fish will change sex and behavior and become the new dominant male. Parrotfish usually live in harems with one terminal phase fish as the dominant male. The terminal phase includes mature males which have bright and brilliant colors.The second phase, known as the initial phase, includes sexually mature males and females which are impossible to sex without internal examination or close observation during spawning.The first phase is when they are sexually immature these juveniles are usually dull in color.
These species go through three very distinct phases.
To complicate things further, some species have both primary and secondary males. Some species don’t have secondary males, and others do. Some fish are born male (they are known as primary males), others are born female and make the change to male (secondary males), and others remain female for their entire life. Parrotfish have one of the most complex and interesting reproductive techniques in the world.
Rocks and coral can be extremely hard so it goes without saying that their teeth are some of the strongest and hardest on the planet! Parrotfish use their teeth and pharyngeal teeth to grind up the rocks and coral which they then ingest. Most species live for less than 5 years however, the largest species ( Bolbome-topon muricatum) can live until around 20 years.They can cause ciguatera fish poisoning, some fish carry a toxin which can’t be destroyed through cooking, freezing or stewing.These fish can form large foraging groups of up to 500 while they spawn and feed.They are eaten as a delicacy in some countries.Some species excrete mucus every night which acts like a sleeping bag! It takes them around 30 minutes to make, and is foul smelling in order to deter predators, such as moray eels.It’s thought that most Caribbean reefs will have disappeared within 20 years if grazing fish, such as parrotfish, aren’t protected and reestablished.They are the largest herbivorous fish in the Atlantic.Some waters have been protected, and prohibit the use of fishing traps. There have been some changes to protect populations.