Content Details

Click to view full quality image

View HQ VideoView Video

Low Bandwidth
Bolbometopon muricatum Green humphead parrotfish      
school
Kingdom - Animalia - animals
   Phylum - Chordata - chordates
      Subphylum - Vertebrata - vertebrates
         Superclass - Osteichthyes - peixe ósseo
            Class - Actinopterygii - poissons à nageoires rayonnées
               Subclass - Neopterygii - neopterygians
                  Infraclass - Teleostei
                     Superorder - Acanthopterygii
                        Order - Perciformes - perch-like fishes
                           Suborder - Labroidei - poissons-perroquets
                              Family - Scaridae (Rafinesque, 1810) - poissons-perroquets
                                 Subfamily - Scarinae
                                    Genus - Bolbometopon (Smith, 1956)
                                       Species - Bolbometopon muricatum (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1840) - humphead parrotfish
Jack Randall Information

Jack Randall Book Cover
Bolbometopon muricatum
Bolbometopon muricatum (Valenciennes in C & V, 1840) Pectoral rays usually 16; median predorsal scales 2-5 (usually 4); 3 rows of scales on cheek, the lower row with 1 or 2 scales; l row of scales on interopercle; dental plates largely exposed (only partly covered by lips), each of the fused teeth forming a small bump on plate surface; no conical teeth on side of plates; a prominent convexity on forehead of adults (evident on individuals as small as 25 cm); body deep, 2.05-2.5 in standard length (depth increasing with growth); caudal fin rounded, the lobes slightly prolonged in adults; adults dull green, the front of the head pale yellowish to pink; juveniles greenish to brown with 5 vertical rows of small whitish spots. Largest of the parrotfishes; attains 120 cm; one of 117 cm weighed 46 kg. Red Sea and east coast of Africa to the Line Islands and Samoa Islands; Ryukyu Islands to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia; type locality, Java. Usually seen in small aggregations; difficult to approach underwater. Feeds on both benthic algae and live coral; one was observed by the author in the Line Islands to feed about half the time on coral.


Fishbase Information (FISHBASE.ORG)

Green humphead parrotfish 

130 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 9710); max. published weight: 46.0 kg (Ref. 2334)

reef-associated; marine; depth range 1 - 30 m

tropical; 30°N - 24°S

Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa and th Line Islands, north to the Yaeyama and Wake islands, south to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.

Dorsal spines(total): 9; Dorsal soft rays(total): 10; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 9. Median predorsal scales 2 to 4 (may be obscured by hump); scales on cheek scale rows 1(4-6), 2(3-6), 3(1-2) (Ref. 9793). Sometimes confused with the humphead wrasse or other humphead parrotfishes (Ref. 1602). Unlike the wrasse, it has a vertical head profile, and unlike other parrotfishes, it is uniformly covered except for the leading edge of the head which is often light green to pink, and has a nodular outer surface to its beak (Ref. 1602). The primary phase is a dull gray with scattered white spots, gradually becoming uniformly dark green (Ref. 1602).

Juveniles found in lagoons; adults in clear outer lagoon and seaward reefs up to a depths of at least 30 m (Ref. 9710). Usually in small groups. Feeds on benthic algae and live corals. May ram its head against corals to facilitate feeding (Ref. 9710). Sleeps in caves and often in shipwrecks at night (Ref. 48636). The largest and wariest of the parrotfishes. Vulnerable to overfishing (Ref. 9710).

Fishbase Credit - Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2005.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (06/2005).