Parrotfish

Parrotfish

Parrotfish get their name from the shape of their beak-like mouths. Their teeth are small and tightly packed, allowing them to be used to scrape algae from corals. Parrotfish often grind off bits of coral when feeding and are important to the creation and distribution of coral sands. They tend to stay in shallow waters near the reefs and graze the corals in large schools.

Parrotfish are awake during the day, and at night they jam themselves into crevices to sleep.

Parrotfish coloration is highly variable even within the same species, and this can sometimes make it difficult to classify specific species.