Here are the Parrotfish Habit and Environmental Roles

kelolalaut.com - Parrotfish is a tropical fish that have long, tapered body and beaks. Their mouth is look like beaks but in reality that are a lot of teeth that are packed and close together. Parrotfish are easily found around the tropical waters because they lived in a coral ecosystem. They are closely relative to the wrasse and about 80 species have been identified. Parrotfish size can vary from less than one feet to four feet long. Parrotfish diet mainly consist of algae that they’re extracted from coral polyps on a reef. They will bite a chunk of coral and then grind it with their teeth that located in the throats to get the polyp with the algae inside it. 

Their sex can change repeatedly as long as they live, and they also can change their color and pattern which is become problem when it is come to classify the fish. They have a lot of variety even among the male, females and their juvenile. Parrotfish meat is consumed in some part of the world, like in Polynesia parrotfish will be served as a raw meat and are considered ‘royal food’.

Read also: Reasons Why Omega-3 Is Important

The largest species of the parrotfish is the green humphead, this fish has been known to grow to lengths slightly more than four feet. The smallest species is the blue lip parrotfish, which grows to about five inches long. They exist in a variety of colors, the most common being blues or greens with accents of pink, purple, yellow, or red. Parrotfish coloring can vary within a single species due to age and gender.

This fish have an important role as a part of coral reef ecosystems. They spend most of their day to eating algae and sleep at night among the coral. Their constant feeding helps the coral reefs healthy and thriving. They will use their beak to scrap an algae from a coral and digest it. The coral bit that parrotfish digested will come out into sand.

Read also: Barramundi Facts and Best Way to Cook It