West African Parrotfish

This species is distinguished from all of its congeners by the following set of characters: D IX,10; A III,9; pectoral rays 12-13 (rarely 13); pelvic rays I,5; lateral line scales 23-26; gill rakers on first arch 11 to 14; Initial phase of individuals and females greyish brown to greyish red, with chin and belly paler and reddish brown scales irregularly distributed singly or in clusters along flanks; pectoral fin translucent red with a dark red to black spot on upper fourth of its base. Terminal phase of individuals with brownish red head and upper half of anterior two-thirds of body; ventral portion of central third of body yellowish green; posterior third of body dark greenish grey; black spot on upper fifth of pectoral fin base (Ref. 88982).

Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Analsoft rays: 9

Occurs in rocky reefs at 2-30 m depths, where it grazes on algae growing over rocky or calcareous substrate (Ref. 88982) and seagrasses (Ref. 7360). Males usually solitary, but females are often seen in pairs or small groups, juveniles in loose aggregations of up to 10 individuals (Ref. 88982).

Sparisoma choati, the West-African parrotfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the family Scaridae. It occurs at depths between 2 and 30m, along west African coastline and islands from Cape Verde and Senegal south to the offshore islands of the Gulf of Guinea and northern Angola. Like other parrotfish of the genus Sparisoma, it lives on rocky reefs and grazes on algae growing over hard substrate. It was named in honor of J. Howard Choat, in recognition of his extensive scientific work on parrotfishes.