Scarus ghobban

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Scarus ghobban
Loro barbazul (Scarus ghobban), La Paz, Baja California, Mexico, 2024-12-20, DD 43.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Family: Labridae
Genus: Scarus
Species:
S. ghobban
Binomial name
Scarus ghobban
Forsskål, 1775 [2]
Synonyms [3]
  • Scarus ghobbanForsskål, 1775
  • Callyodon ghobban(Forsskål, 1775)
  • Scarus guttatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801
  • Callyodon guttatus(Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
  • Scarus maculosus Lacepède, 1802
  • Scarus pepo Bennett, 1830
  • Scarus reticulata Swainson, 1839
  • Hemistoma reticulata(Swainson, 1839)
  • Scarus lacerta Valenciennes, 1840
  • Scarus dussumieriValenciennes, 1840
  • Callyodon dussumieri(Valenciennes, 1840)
  • Scarus scabriusculusValenciennes, 1840
  • Scarus magrathiiBennett, 1841
  • Scarus pyrrostethus Richardson, 1846
  • Scarus haridoides Bleeker, 1855
  • Pseudoscarus cantoriBleeker, 1861
  • Pseudoscarus nudirostris Alleyne & Macleay, 1877
  • Pseudoscarus papuensisMacleay, 1883
  • Pseudoscarus flavipinnis De Vis, 1885
  • Pseudoscarus californiensis Pellegrin, 1901
  • Scarus noyesi Heller & Snodgrass, 1903
  • Pseudoscarus natalensis Gilchrist & Thompson, 1909
  • Pseudoscarus garretti Günther, 1909
  • Scarus pyrrostethus australianus Paradice, 1927
  • Scarus azureus Meek & Hildebrand, 1928
  • Scarus toshi Whitley, 1933
  • Callyodon fuscocuneus Fowler, 1935
  • Callyodon speigleri J.L.B. Smith, 1956
  • Callyodon apridentatusSmith, 1956
  • Scarus fehlmanni Schultz, 1969

Scarus ghobban, also known as the blue-barred parrotfish, blue trim parrotfish, cream parrotfish, globe-headed parrotfish, green blotched parrotfish, yellow scale parrotfish, and bluechin parrotfish, [1] is a species of marine ray-finned fish in the family Scaridae.

Contents

Description

Close-up of the teeth Loro barbazul (Scarus ghobban), La Paz, Baja California, Mexico, 2024-12-20, DD 55.jpg
Close-up of the teeth

This species is blue-green to green in colour and commonly grows to approximately 46 cm. Its appearance is variable. It may have a central stripe on the dorsal and anal fins that is pink in color. The underside of the body may be pinkish or yellowish. There may be blue markings around the area of the pectoral fin. [4]

Distribution

Scarus ghobban is widespread throughout the Indo-Pacific, known from East Africa to Indonesia. It also occurs in the Galápagos Islands [4] as well as Japan, south to Australia and east to French Polynesia. [2] Recently recorded in 2001 for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel, following an entry via the Suez Canal, it is now expanding northward in Levantine waters where it remains rare. [5] [6]

Like other reef fish with a pelagic larval phase, regional currents facilitate high levels of gene flow, which in turn create high genetic diversity among the species. [7]

Habitat

Scarus ghobban occurs in places with sandy bottoms and in areas with seagrass. It is also known to live in marginal reefs and in deeper waters. [1]

Ecology

Scarus ghobban grows quickly and can live up to 13 years. It tends to congregate in small schools. [1] Scarus ghobban can rotate their mandible bone at a high velocity; this allows them to function as a scraper and facilitate hydrological transport of fine sediments. [8]

Reproduction

The way Scarus ghobban reproduces is by the female laying eggs into the current of the water. After about 25 hours after the egg has been fertilized, it will hatch. After birth, the parrotfish will mature quickly and will not have to be near its parents for much time. [9]

Threats

While the species is captured in large numbers by fishermen for consumption and sale, and there is also a high amount of bycatch from other fisheries, it is not particularly targeted and appears not to be threatened at this point. As with other parrotfish, it is dependent on coral reefs to some degree and is likely to suffer from the continued degradation of those reefs. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Choat, J.H.; Myers, R.; Russell, B.; Clements, K.D.; Rocha, L.A.; Lazuardi, M.E.; Muljadi, A.; Pardede, S.; Rahardjo, P. (2012). "Scarus ghobban". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2012: e.T190705A17798394. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T190705A17798394.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 McGrouther, Mark (21 January 2019). "Bluebarred Parrotfish, Scarus ghobban Forsskål, 1775". Australian Museum . Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Scarus ghobban". FishBase . December 2019 version.
  4. 1 2 "Scarus ghobban". Darwin Foundation.
  5. Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Scarus ghobban). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Scarus_ghobban.pdf
  6. Bariche, Michel; Saad, Mohammed (2009) [2005]. "Settlement of the lessepsian blue-barred parrotfish Scarus ghobban (Teleostei: Scaridae) in the eastern Mediterranean". Marine Biodiversity Records. 1: e5. doi:10.1017/S1755267205000497.
  7. Visram, Shakrim (2010). "Genetic connectivity and historical demography of the blue barred parrotfish (Scarus ghobban) in the western Indian Ocean". Marine Biology. 157 (7): 1475. doi:10.1007/s00227-010-1422-8. S2CID   85349344.
  8. Melgarejo-Damián, M. P.; González-Acosta, A. F.; Cruz-Escalona, V. H.; Moncayo-Estrada, R. (2017). "A comparison of feeding biomechanics between two parrotfish species from the Gulf of California" . Zoomorphology. 137 (1): 165–176. doi:10.1007/s00435-017-0383-6. ISSN   0720-213X. S2CID   253985036.
  9. Jonna R. Jamil (2021). Scaridae Parrotfishes. Animal Diversity Web.