Parrotfish Facts
Parrotfish are beautifully colored fish with large front teeth. They are found grazing along shallow tropical coral reefs. Here are some more interesting facts about parrotfish.
- Parrotfish are herbivores, eating the algae they find in coral.
- Parrotfish use their large teeth to grind coral to extract the algae found within it.
- Parrotfish change their colors and patterns as they get older.
- They can change gender throughout their lifetime.
- The name “parrotfish” comes from their teeth, which bear close resemblance to a bird’s beak.
- Parrotfish are social and travel in large schools containing up to 40 individual other fish.
- Parrotfish convert coral into sand. In one year, a single parrotfish may convert about one ton of coral.
- Parrotfish swim like a bird, flapping their pectoral fins like wings.