File:Scarus_frenatus_by_Ewa_Barska.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Scaridae
Sign in to saveAlso known as parrotfish
Parrotfish (named because their mouths resemble a parrot's beak) are a clade (a fundamental grouping in evolutionary biology consisting of a single common ancestor and all of its descendants) of fish placed in the subfamily Scarinae of the wrasse family (Labridae). Formerly treated as their own family (Scaridae), genetic studies found them to be deeply nested within the wrasses, and they are now treated as a subfamily (Scarinae). With roughly 95 species, the group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a s
OverviewAI-generated
Scaridae is a taxon at the family rank within the animal kingdom. It belongs to the phylum Chordata and the order Perciformes. The group is classified under the parent taxa Labroidei and Labriformes. In some classifications, it is listed as a synonym of Labridae, while other sources place it in the order Eupercaria incertae sedis and class Teleostei. The taxon has been described in the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition.
Common names for this group include papegøyefiskfamilien and pexe loru. Its habitat is marine. Records indicate a range that includes The Bahamas. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the status of this taxon is unaccepted.
Occurrence data shows 1,010,086 records. Additional records from iDigBio number 1,939, with 32 media items. These records are held by institutions such as SDNHM, ECOSUR, CUMV, TCWC, and UCMP. The countries associated with these records are the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Barbuda, and the Philippines.
Synthesized by Vinony from 33 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, Gbif Occ, WoRMS, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
Scaridae
FAMILY
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassTeleostei
- OrderPerciformes
- FamilyScaridae
The parrotfishes are abundant around Caribbean coral reefs, especially in beds of seagrass or macroalgae. They are typically the predominant vertebrate herbivores on and off of the reef. The taxonomy of scarids in the region is relatively simple: there are four genera, but virtually all of the species belong to two large genera Scarus and Sparisoma. The two remaining species comprise the monotypic Cryptotomus roseus and Nicholsina usta, the latter with a sibling species in the eastern Pacific.Larval scarids share most of their basic features with their labrid relatives, such as long and continuous dorsal and anal fins with slender spines, a relatively wide caudal peduncle, stub-like pelvic fins, a pointed snout and small terminal mouth, typically light markings and no spines on the head. They can be separated from larval labrids by having a row of melanophores along or beneath the base of the anal fin, typically extending into the caudal peduncle. A number of similar-appearing families share the anal-fin row of melanophores, but have many more dorsal and anal-fin elements, usually twice as many in larval labrisomids, chaenopsids, tripterygiids, and dactyloscopids. The latter group
via GBIF
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 1,939
- With media
- 32
- Family
- Scaridae
- Collections
- SDNHM, ECOSUR, CUMV, TCWC, UCMP, USNM
- Recorded in
- United States, Mexico, Honduras, Barbuda, Philippines, Montserrat, Cuba
~14 min read
Encyclopedic overview
12 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Protective mucus
- Feeding
- Life cycle
- Sex change
- Economic importance
- Gallery
- Timeline of genera
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Parrotfish (named because their mouths resemble a parrot's beak) are a clade (a fundamental grouping in evolutionary biology consisting of a single common ancestor and all of its descendants) of fish placed in the subfamily Scarinae of the wrasse family (Labridae). Formerly treated as their own family (Scaridae), genetic studies found them to be deeply nested within the wrasses, and they are now treated as a subfamily (Scarinae). With roughly 95 species, the group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a significant role in bioerosion because they eat away at the corals. This activity is also often attributed to enriching the sand content on the surrounding ocean floor.
==Taxonomy== Traditionally, the parrotfishes have been considered to be a family level taxon, Scaridae. Although phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses of parrotfish are ongoing, they are now accepted to be a clade in the wrasses closely related to the tribe Cheilini, and are now commonly referred to as scarine labrids (tribe Scarini, family Labridae). Some authorities have preferred to maintain the parrotfishes as a family-level taxon, resulting in Labridae not being monophyletic (unless split into several families).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Scaridae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.