Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes (Perch-likes) > Scaridae (Parrotfishes) > Scarinae
Etymology: Scarus: Greek, skaros = a fish described by anciente writers as a parrot fish; 1601 (Ref. 45335).

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 3 - 25 m (Ref. 9710). Subtropical, preferred ?; 33°N - 26°S, 98°W - 31°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: Bermuda, Florida (USA), Bahamas, and northeastern Gulf of Mexico to northern South America; throughout the Caribbean (Ref. 3802, 13628). Range probably extends to Brazil (Ref. 13628).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ?, range 16 - ? cm
Max length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9710); common length : 18.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3802)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9. White stripe above upper dark stripe ends at gill opening; upper and lower caudal margins pale (Ref. 26938). Terminal phase males are blue-green and orange, chest and head pink below a green band at lower edge of eye; median fins with blue borders, the broad central parts orange with linear blue markings (Ref. 13442).

Found over shallow, clear waters, generally over Thalassia beds (Ref. 13628). Also found rocky or coral areas (Ref. 13628). A schooling species. Feeds on plants. A protogynous hermaphrodite (Ref. 55367). Super males spawn individually with striped females, while sexually mature males in the striped phase spawn in aggregation.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Diandric. Length at sex change = 9.6 cm TL (Ref. 55367). Forms harem groups composed of a single male and several smaller females (Ref. 55367).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Westneat, Mark | Collaborators

Böhlke, J.E. and C.C.G. Chaplin, 1993. Fishes of the Bahamas and adjacent tropical waters. 2nd edition. University of Texas Press, Austin. (Ref. 5521)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Least Concern (LC)

CITES (Ref. 94142)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30911)

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial

FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

More information

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Scarus iseri (Bloch, 1789)