Sea Creatures 101:The Parrotfish: Polly Want A ...Coral?

Ahhh… a tropical vacation. Bright sun, blue water, white sand. Just bury your toes in that lovely sandy beach. Go ahead- dig around in it while I tell you where a lot of that sand came from. Ready? Parrotfish create the white sand.

Parrotfish love coral-specifically the algae-like animals (zooxanthellae) that inhabit the coral skeletal structure. They dig at the coral with their mouth, which has large front teeth fused together. A set of grinder teeth in the parrotfish’s throat makes the coral skeleton into fine sand. The sand passes through the parrotfish’s body, makes its exit, and…voila! A white sandy beach. For each acre of coral that is eaten, one ton of sand is created.

Parrotfish that are kept in aquariums need that algae-like animal too, but live coral is not available. Often little round patties made of a mixture of Plaster of Paris, finely chopped spinach, and pellets of dry fish food are dropped in the tank. This is an easy and fairly inexpensive way to keep a parrotfish healthy and keep its color.

Parrotfish are often brightly colored, with vibrant blues and oranges, red, and yellow. The males are often more brightly colored than the females, but this can’t be a way to discern male from female since parrotfish are born both male and female. In a group of parrotfish where all are female, the dominant female may physically change into a male for breeding purposes. If another male comes into the group, the (once female) male may again become female. The parrotfish will do whatever is needed to keep the species from extinction.

To keep itself from extinction, some types of parrotfish do something very clever. They create a bubble out of their own mucus, which can take up to half an hour. (Ugh…yes, I know, but this is really interesting.) The parrotfish is most vulnerable in the dark when most fish sleep. One fish doesn’t sleep at night, and that’s the moray eel. Parrotfish are one of the moray eel’s favorite snacks. Morays hunt by smell. (Do you see where I’m going with this?) The parrotfish creates this bubble, closes it around itself, and goes to sleep. The moray can’t smell it. In the morning, the parrotfish breaks the bubble and swims away. Another parrotfish lives to see another day.

Even though you now know where all of that white sand comes from, I can guess it won’t keep you from walking in it barefoot. We can’t resist that Caribbean vacation when we get one. (Not that I would know, but…) Maybe you’ll even see a parrotfish in the water. Now that you are acquainted with our featherless friends, you can appreciate them for the amazing fish that they are. Check out the links to parrotfish information if you want

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic