Wilderness Portraits Stock Images by Lloyd Paul Aiello

Redband Parrotfish

Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth where instead of teeth they have two beak-like plates. The Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) grows to 28 cm (11 in) and is common to a depth of 20 m (66 ft) in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean. Especially during younger stages, the fish’s color is highly variable and they can rapidly fade, intensify or change color and markings. Normally as seen here, an orangish-pink color band is present starting from below the eye and connecting to the corner of the mouth. Redband parrotfish swim about reefs using their pectoral fins. The tail is only used for bursts of speed. They use their 'beaks' to scrape algae and polyps from corals and rocks.

Even though the Parrotfish is colorful, they can still be well camouflaged on the reef as seen here nestled between the rust-colored encrusting sponge and green algae on the rock, and the brown tubulate sponge (Agelas tubulata) above.

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Contained in galleries: Recent Archived Additions, Underwater Worlds, Wildlife Portraits

Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth where instead of teeth they have two beak-like plates. The Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) grows to 28 cm (11 in) and is common to a depth of 20 m (66 ft) in Florida, Bahamas and the Caribbean. Especially during younger stages, the fish’s color is highly variable and they can rapidly fade, intensify or change color and markings. Normally as seen here, an orangish-pink color band is present starting from below the eye and connecting to the corner of the mouth. Redband parrotfish swim about reefs using their pectoral fins. The tail is only used for bursts of speed. They use their 'beaks' to scrape algae and polyps from corals and rocks.<br />
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Even though the Parrotfish is colorful, they can still be well camouflaged on the reef as seen here nestled between the rust-colored encrusting sponge and green algae on the rock, and the brown tubulate sponge (Agelas tubulata) above.