Rainbow parrotfish

Taxobox
name = Rainbow parrotfish


status = VU | status_system = IUCN2.3
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Scaridae
genus = "Scarus"
species = "S. guacamaia"
binomial = "Scarus guacamaia"
binomial_authority = Cuvier, 1829
synonyms = The rainbow parrotfish ("Scaus guacamaia") is a species of fish in the Scaridae family. It is found in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United States, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The rainbow parrotfish can be found on coral reefs at depths of 3 to 25 meters. At night, the fish retreat into crevices in the coral. Juveniles tend to occur in mangroves adjacent to the reef. The mangroves act as important nursery areas and provide food-rich and predator free safe-havens for the growing young. An usual feature of parrotfish is that they are able to change sex: females may become males.

The rainbow parrotfish is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on ICUN's Red List. A taxon is Vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.

In areas where adult coral reef habitat is connected to mangrove nursery habitat, removal of the mangroves has resulted in the local extinction of rainbow parrotfish. The current rate of destruction of mangroves, which is greater than that of tropical rainforest, will have a serious effect on adjacent reef communities. Further threats facing reef ecosystems include pollution, global warming, over-fishing and coastal development. A number of reef reserves have been established in which fishing and other human pressures are prevented.

ource

* Roberts, C. 1996. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/19950/all Scarus guacamaia] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 05 August 2007.