Sparisoma

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Sparisoma
Stoplight-parrotfish.jpg
Male S. viride
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Labriformes
Family: Labridae
Tribe: Scarini
Genus: Sparisoma
Swainson, 1839
Type species
Scarus abildgaardi
Bloch, 1791 [1]
Species

See text.

Synonyms [2]

Sparisoma is a genus of parrotfishes native to warmer parts of the Atlantic. FishBase recognizes 15 species in this genus, [3] including S. rocha described from Trindade Island in 2010 [4] and S. choati described from the East Atlantic in 2012. [5] They are the most important grazers of algae in the Caribbean Sea, especially since sea urchins, especially Diadema , the other prominent consumers of algae, have been reduced in many places by a recent epidemic.[ citation needed ]

Contents

The name was proposed by William Swainson as a subgenus of Scarus . Sparus in Latin is a golden-headed fish, and soma means "body". The common spelling Sparisomus is incorrect.[ citation needed ]

Taxonomy

William Swainson described the genus Sparisoma in 1839 and he designated Sparus abildgaardi as its type species, [1] Although the specific name abildgaardi would appear to have precedence over chrysopterum, the latter is the more widely used name and the former was long mistakenly thought to be synonymous with Sparisoma viride . [6] The name Sparus abildgaardi was suppressed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and Scarus chrysopterus was recognised as the type species. [7]

Biology

The size of parrotfishes of this genus ranges from the rather small-sized S. radians with a known maximum length of 20 cm (7.9 in) to the large S. viride, which reaches lengths of up to 64 cm (25 in).[ citation needed ]

Members of this genus are sequential hermaphrodites, starting as females (known as the initial phase) and then changing to males (the terminal phase). However, some males are direct-developing, and these usually resemble the initial phase. These direct-developing terminal-phase males often display different mating strategies. In most species, the terminal phase is more colourful than the initial, but a notable exception to this rule is S. cretense. They use their pectoral fins to move; the caudal fin is reserved for rapid bursts of speed.[ citation needed ]

The genus Sparisoma is fairly successful, but populations have been falling somewhat because of overfishing and other human activities. However, as mentioned above, it is the main grazer of algae. Still, since populations have been falling, the coral reefs may be at risk, because too much algae is deleterious or harmful to coral.[ citation needed ]

Species

SpeciesCommon nameInitial phaseTerminal phase
Sparisoma amplum

(Ranzani, 1842)

Reef parrotfish Sparisoma amplum, Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil imported from iNaturalist photo 110777468 (cropped).jpg Sparisoma amplum, Buraco do Inferno, Brasil imported from iNaturalist photo 166319558 (cropped).jpg
Sparisoma atomarium

(Poey, 1861)

Greenblotch parrotfish
Sparisoma aurofrenatum

(Valenciennes, 1840)

Redband parrotfish Sparisoma aurofrenatum, 571 North West Point Road Grand Cayman KY1, West Bay 1301, Cayman Islands imported from iNaturalist photo 467376738 (cropped).jpg Sparisoma aurofrenatum, Beach Place, Fort Lauderdale, FL, US imported from iNaturalist photo 324027007 (cropped).jpg
Sparisoma axillare

(Steindachner, 1878)

Gray parrotfish Sparisoma axillare, Guarapari, BR-ES, BR imported from iNaturalist photo 386084228 (cropped).jpg Figure 2. Brazilian endemic parrotfishes now under inverted management (Sparisoma axillare).jpg
Sparisoma choati

Rocha, Brito & D. R. Robertson, 2012

West-African parrotfish Sparisoma choati (cropped).png
Sparisoma chrysopterum

(Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Redtail parrotfish Sparisoma chrysopterum, Aruba, Oranjestad, Aruba, AW imported from iNaturalist photo 258758751 (cropped).jpg Sparisoma chrysopterum - pone.0010676.g135.png
Sparisoma cretense

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Mediterranean parrotfish Sparisoma cretense 2 (cropped).jpg Vieja colorada (Sparisoma cretense), franja marina Teno-Rasca, Tenerife, Espana, 2022-01-05, DD 81 (cropped).jpg
Sparisoma frondosum

(Agassiz, 1831)

Agassiz's parrotfish Sparisoma frondosum 107515511 (cropped).jpg Figure 2. Brazilian endemic parrotfishes now under inverted management (Sparisoma frondosum rotated).jpg
Sparisoma griseorubrum

Cervigón, 1982

Caribbean reef parrotfish
Sparisoma radians

(Valenciennes, 1840)

Bucktooth parrotfish Sparisoma radians 137466466.jpg
Sparisoma rocha

Pinheiro, Gasparini & Sazima, 2010

Rocha's parrotfish Sparisoma rocha (cropped).jpg
Sparisoma rubripinne

(Valenciennes, 1840)

Redfin parrotfish Sparisoma rubripinne 320187554 (cropped).jpg Yellowtail parrotfish Sparisoma rubripinne (2443201744) (cropped).jpg
Sparisoma strigatum

(Günther, 1862)

Strigate parrotfish
Sparisoma tuiupiranga

Gasparini, Joyeux & Floeter, 2003

Brazilian red parrotfish Sparisoma tuiupiranga, Arraial do Cabo, RJ, 28930-000, Brasil imported from iNaturalist photo 107515535 (cropped).jpg Sparisoma tuiupiranga, Arraial do Cabo, RJ, 28930-000, Brasil imported from iNaturalist photo 107515582 (cropped).jpg
Sparisoma viride

(Bonnaterre, 1788)

Stoplight parrotfish Sparisoma viride, 9HCM Q27, N W Point Rd, West Bay, Cayman Islands imported from iNaturalist photo 469419199 (cropped).jpg Stoplight-parrotfish (cropped).jpg

An alleged fossil otolith of Sparisoma from the Lutetian of France would represent the oldest record of this genus, and of parrotfishes in general. However, more recent studies no longer assign the fossil to this genus. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Sparisoma". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  2. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Scaridae". Catalog of Fishes . California Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Sparisoma". FishBase . February 2012 version.
  4. Pinheiro, H. T., J. L. Gasparini & I. Sazima (2010). Sparisoma rocha, a new species of parrotfish (Actinopterygii: Labridae) from Trindade Island, South-western Atlantic. Zootaxa 2493: 59–65.
  5. Rocha, Brito, and Robertson (2012). Sparisoma choati, a new species of Parrotfish (Labirdae: Scarinae) from the tropical eastern Atlantic. Zootaxa, 3152: 61-67.
  6. Parenti, P.; J. E. Randall (2000). "An annotated checklist of the species of the Labroid fish families Labridae and Scaridae" (PDF). Ichthyological Bulletin of the J. L. B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology (68): 1–97. S2CID   82180282. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-11.
  7. J.D.D. Smith (2001). Official Lists and Indexes of Names and Works in Zoology Supplement 1986-2000 . The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. ISBN   0853010072.
  8. Bellwood, David R.; Schultz, Ortwin; Siqueira, Alexandre C.; Cowman, Peter F. (2019). "A review of the fossil record of the Labridae". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie. 121: 125–194. ISSN   0255-0091.