by Annalyn Andriyenko

Created on: January 22, 2011   Last Updated: January 24, 2011

Parrot fish are a very unique and interesting looking breed of fish that are found all along the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Parrot fish are related to the Wrasse species, except they are much wider and don’t have the thin body shape. Here’s what all you need to know about this fish species including their habits, appearance, and the beautiful colors they can be found in.

Appearance

These fish have a remarkable coloring and come in a wide assortment of rainbow hues. The most common look of the parrot fish is the light green body with plenty of yellow stripes and spots all along its back and face. Some can be neon orange with blue stripes, yellow with red stripes and others can come in a deep black with red or blue stripes.

Parrot fish also have an extraordinary face to go with their colors, they have a very long head with two orange or yellow eyes jutting out from each side. They have a tiny mouth which they use to scrap up algae. Their pectoral and dorsal fins are wide and thick, as well as their bodies as they have plenty of scales almost used as a type of armor. These fish can range from twelve to three feet depending on the species!

Habitat

Parrot fish enjoy the dark and dank end of the water, basking in coral reefs and seaweed beds. Loving the warmth of the tropical waters, they spend much of their time lounging around or swimming around the leafy beds searching for food. These fish are also great at camouflaging themselves to hide from predators. Making a cocoon of mucus as night falls, they sleep within in it, which masks their odor from any predators coming close to their cocoon.

Diet

Being omnivores, they actually aren’t one to hunt other fish or even pick on them. These docile and laid back fish enjoy minding their own business as they search out for coral, algae, and sometimes seaweed. Their teeth, much like a rodent, continue to grow and never stop, so chomping on coral is much needed to shave their teeth down. An interesting fact about parrot fish is that after they chew on some rocky coral, they will then excrete it and it will become sand, which finds its way up to the beaches.

Parrot fish are a beautiful and unique looking fish that comes in such a wide array of colors. Pleasing to the eye, parrot fish are one of nature’s greatest sea gifts, as they can help the environment dramatically.            

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