Common Name: Stoplight Parrotfish
Scientific Name: Sparisoma viride
Description: The Stoplight Parrotfish changes colors quite dramatically throughout it's life. Juvenile and young adults are red and brown in color while fully mature males become bright green and blue with pink highlights and a very distinctive bright yellow stop on their tales.
Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Scaridae
Genus: Sparisoma
Maximum Size: 64cm
Habitat & Range: Stoplight Parrotfish are found throught the western Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea from Bermuda to Brazil. They inhabit warm tropical reefs do a depth of approximately 18 metres (60 feet). They are normally sited during the day as they spend the night sleeping on the sandy bottom.
Diet: Stoplight Parrotfish eat mostly algae but are also known to eat live coral.
Lifespan: Approximately 10 years.
Predators: Carnivorous fish such as snapper, jacks, and moray eels.
Red List Status: Not Evaluated
Sources:
Sparisoma viride - Stoplight Parrotfish (2008, June 15) FishBase
Stoplight Parrotfish (2008, June 15) Florida Museum of Natural History
Stoplight Parrotfish (2008, June 15) Miami University