Scarus spinus, the Greensnout parrotfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish from the family Scaridae.[2][3][4]

Scarus spinus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Family: Scaridae
Genus: Scarus
Species:
S. spinus
Binomial name
Scarus spinus
(Kner), 1868
Synonyms
  • Callyodon kelloggii Jordan & Seale, 1906[1]
  • Pseudoscarus spinus Kner, 1868[1]

Description

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Image of Fishes of Samoa - Jordan, David Starr; Seale, Alvin (1906)

Scarus spinus can reach a total length of about 30 cm (in males).[4] These fishes have 10 dorsal soft rays, 3 anal spines and 9 anal soft rays. Males show a bright yellow head underwater, while females are drab with white teeth and some pale spots. Caudal fin is moderately to deeply emarginate in terminal phase. Lips largely cover dental plates.[4]

Distribution and habitat

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This species can be found on Christmas Island and from the Philippines to Samoa, the Ryukyu Islands and the southern Great Barrier Reef. The Greensnout parrotfish inhabits coral-rich areas of outer lagoon and seaward reefs, at a depth range 0 - 30 m.[4]

Biology

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It appears specialized in scraping crustose coralline algae with its jaw.[5] It can change gender from female to male (hermaphroditic).[6]

Bibliography

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  • This article has been expanded using, inter alia, material based on a translation of an article from the Spanisch Wikipedia, by the same name.
  • Fenner, Robert M.: The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. Neptune City, New Jersey,: T.F.H. Publications, 2001.
  • Helfman, G., B. Collette y D. Facey: The diversity of fishes. Blackwell Science, Malden, Massachusetts, 1997.
  • Hoese, D.F. 1986. A M.M. Smith y P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlín,
  • Maugé, L.A. 1986. A J. Daget, J.-P. Gosse y D.F.E. Thys van den Audenaerde (eds.) Check-list of the freshwater fishes of Africa (CLOFFA). ISNB Bruselas; MRAC, Tervuren, Flandes; y ORSTOM, París, France. Vol. 2.
  • Moyle, P. y J. Cech.: Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology, 4a. edición, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 2000.
  • Nelson, J.: Fishes of the World, 3rd. ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 1994.
  • Wheeler, A.: The World Encyclopedia of Fishes, 2nd. edición, London: Macdonald.
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References

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  1. ^ a b Randall, J.E. and J.H. Choat (1980) Two new parrotfishes of the genus Scarus from the Central and South Pacific, with further examples of sexual dichromatism., Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 70:383-419
  2. ^ Randall, J.E., G.R. Allen and R.C. Steene (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea., University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. 506 p.
  3. ^ Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D. Catalogue of life
  4. ^ a b c d https://fishbase.mnhn.fr/summary/4974 Fishbase
  5. ^ Nicholson, Georgina M.; Clements, Kendall D. (2022). "Scarus spinus, crustose coralline algae and cyanobacteria: An example of dietary specialization in the parrotfishes". Coral Reefs. 41 (5): 1465–1479. doi:10.1007/s00338-022-02295-y. hdl:2292/62414.
  6. ^ https://reefapp.net/en/encyclopedia/scarus-spinus Reefapp