In the Water: Fishes
Princess parrotfish
Scarus taeniopterus
Jumplinks:
About
In places as vibrant as Saba’s coral reefs it’s not easy to stand out, but the princess parrotfish still shines. Males of this species come in all hues of turquoise, pink, purple, orange, and yellow, whereas females opt for a bold pattern of white, brown, and yellow horizontal stripes — très chic.
Parrotfish eat algae that develop on corals by scraping it off with their bird-like beak, which is actually a collection of hundreds of tiny teeth fused together. They also have a second set of teeth in their throat, which is used for grinding up both food and the chunks of coral they regularly ingest as a byproduct. After the coral pieces get ground into sand, parrotfish expel it through their gills. Collectively, this process produces a significant amount of sand in reefs where parrotfish live — up to a ton per acre of reef!
Sand-making skills aside, princess parrotfish are hugely important to the health of Saba’s coral reefs. When they remove algae from hard surfaces, they create more space for new coral polyps to settle and begin their life as reef-building animals. Algae can also accumulate on living corals, blocking necessary sunlight, but with parrotfish around this algae is kept in check. Because of their helpful feeding habits, parrotfish can actually help reefs recover faster from damage caused by coral bleaching. Without them, bleached reefs can quickly become overrun with algae, making it difficult for new corals to grow.
These multicolored fish are most active during the day and prefer to graze in well-lit shallow reefs, making them one of the easiest fishes to spot in Saba’s waters. Princess parrotfish grow no longer than 30 cm/1 foot in length, which makes them a target for larger predatory fish, like sharks. To protect themselves, they spend their nights resting in tight, cozy caves in reefs.
Header image by @zahnerphoto (CC-BY-NC).
This species is:
Native
Why that matters:
Native species are those that evolved in the region naturally, without human influence. That means they’re specifically adapted to Saba’s habitat, and play a key role in island biodiversity. When we lose native species, gaps appear in the ecosystem. That leads to cascades of additional extinctions, and to the loss of the ecosystem services (food, clean air and water, flood and coastal protections, and more) that we humans rely on.
Credit: @zahnerphoto, iNaturalist (CC-BY-NC).
iNaturalist Observations
Where locals, researchers, and visitors have seen this species.
Google / Imagery © 2023 CNES / Airbus, Landsat / Copernicus, Maxar Technologies, U.S. Geological Survey, iNaturalist Map data @2023
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Ask a Scientist
Question: Do different corals attract different types of fish?
Answer: Fish communities generally cater to whatever food they have in their direct environment. There are some fish that are corallivorous, meaning they eat corals, so yes — it depends on which corals exist!
Dr. Rebecca Albright
Curator of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology, California Academy of Sciences
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