‹ Fish Finder· #451
Palenose Parrotfish
Scarus psittacus
Bislamablufis— names this kind of animal, not this species alone
- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 43 cm
- Depth
- 0-30 m
- Family
- Scaridae
Scarus psittacus, the common parrotfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish, in the family Scaridae. Other common names for this species include the palenose parrotfish, Batavian parrotfish and the rosy-cheek parrotfish. It has a wide distribution in the Indo-Pacific region where it is associated with coral reefs. This species is utilised as food. It is the type species of the genus Scarus.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
The females are the hard part: both are dull red-brown. Palenose Parrotfish females are evenly reddish brown with a noticeably pale snout. Bullethead Parrotfish females are dark reddish with a white beak, and a white tail base and tail carrying a black patch. The males differ more: the palenose is green to tan with a lavender face and blue bands on the lips and cheek; the bullethead is green with scales outlined in purple-blue and an orange and white patch on the cheek.
See the Bullethead Parrotfish →
The females are notoriously hard to tell apart. Palenose Parrotfish females are reddish brown to grey with a pale snout; Globehead Parrotfish females are grey-brown with three white bands on the belly. The males: the palenose is green to tan with a lavender face; the globehead is green, each scale rimmed in salmon pink, with a pink band edged in green running from the snout through the eye.
See the Globehead Parrotfish →