Sparisoma

Other Genera Coverage: Chlorurus, Scarus,

/The Conscientious Marine Aquarist

Parrotfishes of the Genus Sparisoma

Bob Fenner

Sparisoma atomarium Juv.

Genus Sparisoma: Eight species.

Sparisoma atomarium (Poey 1861), the Greenblotch Parrotfish. To four inches in length. Tropical West Atlantic. Initial phase individuals have deep red bodies and dorsal fins, yellow anal and ventral fins; red and yellow eyes. Terminal phase with green patch behind pectorals, bright red eyes, and a red tail.
Some initial phase pix taken in the seagrass beds in about twenty feet of water off of Cozumel. Below, juvenile in Jamaica, juvenile, initial and terminal phase individuals off St. Thomas.

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MisID on photo 9/8/13
Came across this shot on this page:
Image -
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ParrotFishPIX/Sparisoma/Sparisoma%20atomarium%20TCI.JPG
Page -
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Pix%20Of%20The%20Day%20Marine/POTD%20SW%20Arch%20300-329/swpotdarch304.htm
The caption suggests all three fish are Sparisoma atomarium. Only the fish at lower left is. The other two fish which have two white horizontal stripes and the black spot behind the gill are juveniles of Sparisoma aurofrenatum.
FWIW,
Matt
<Thank you Matt. Will have a look/see if/when I wake up sufficiently. These corrections are MUCH appreciated. Cheers, BobF>

Sparisoma aurofrenatum (Valenciennes 1840), the Redband Parrotfish. Western Atlantic; Bermudas to Brazil. To eleven inches in length. Juveniles with striped body, pale underside and distinctive black spot behind the pectoral. Initial phase w/ metallic green body, red unpaired fins. Terminal phase with red band below eye, black and yellow spots at rear of gill cover. An occasional pet-fish import. Does as well as any other Parrotfish... i.e. not well in captivity. Shown below: 1st row: Juveniles in Jamaica second row: juvenile, Third row: initial (and mottled one from Cozumel) from Cozumel and Bonaire and a terminal phase individuals from the Bahamas.



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Sparisoma chrysopterum Redtail Parrotfish. Tropical W. Atlantic. Initial phase w/ mottled red and gray scales, tail yellowish. Terminal phases with a blue patch behind pectoral fins, black spot at pectoral axil, red crescent on tail. Below, an initial phase individual in Cozumel and a terminal one in Curacao.

Sparisoma radians (Valenciennes 1940), the Bucktooth Parrotfish. Tropical West Atlantic. Turks and Caicos.

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Sparisoma rubripinne Yellowtail Parrotfish. Tropical W. Atlantic. Initial phase gray body, pinkish below, dark edges on large scales, tail yellow. Terminal phase with consistent green body, black spot at pectoral axil. Initial and terminal phases in Roatan 2019.

Sparisoma viride (Bonnaterre 1798), the Spotlight Parrotfish. Tropical West Atlantic; Florida to Brazil. To twenty five inches maximum length. Pictured below, juvenile in Bonaire, initial and terminal phase specimens in the Bahamas.


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