Sparisoma

Taxobox
name = "Sparisoma"
fossil_range = Middle Eocene to Present [cite journal
last = Sepkoski
first = Jack
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = A compendium of fossil marine animal genera
journal = Bulletins of American Paleontology
volume = 364
issue =
pages = p.560
publisher =
location =
date = 2002
url = http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class
doi =
id =
accessdate = 2008-01-08 ]

---

image_width = 200px
image_caption = "Sparisoma viride"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Perciformes
familia = Scaridae
genus = "Sparisoma"
genus_authority = Swainson, 1839
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = See text.

"Sparisoma" is a genus of eleven parrotfishes native to the Atlantic. They are the main grazers of algae in the Caribbean since sea urchins, the former main grazers, experienced a mass extinction and was supplanted by the parrotfishes.

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

The size of parrotfishes of the genus "Sparisoma" range from the rather regular-sized "Sparisoma radians" with a known maximum length of 20 cm to the very large "Sparisoma rubripinne", which reaches lengths of up to 47.8 cm.

The most well-known parrotfish from the genus "Sparisoma" is the stoplight parrotfish, "Sparisoma viride". It is a fish that can change sex, like many of the fish from the genus "Sparisoma". Like all other parrotfishes, it uses its pectoral fins to move: the caudal fin is reserved for rapid bursts of speed. It is most well-known, probably because it was the first to be classified. Its range is from the Gulf of Mexico down to parts of South America.

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, but since populations have been falling, the coral reefs may be at risk, for it is now known that too much algae is deleterious to coral.

pecies

* "Sparisoma amplum" (Ranzani, 1842)
* Greenblotch parrotfish, "Sparisoma atomarium" (Poey, 1861)
* Redband parrotfish, "Sparisoma aurofrenatum" (Valenciennes, 1840)
* "Sparisoma axillare" (Steindachner, 1878)
* Redtail parrotfish, "Sparisoma chrysopterum" (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
* "Sparisoma cretense" (Linnaeus, 1758)
* "Sparisoma frondosum" (Agassiz, 1831)
* "Sparisoma griseorubrum" Cervigón, 1982
* Bucktooth parrotfish, "Sparisoma radians" (Valenciennes, 1840)
* Redfin parrotfish, "Sparisoma rubripinne" (Valenciennes, 1840)
* Strigate parrotfish, "Sparisoma strigatum" (Günther, 1862)
* "Sparisoma tuiupiranga" Gasparini, Joyeux & Floeter, 2003
* Stoplight parrotfish, "Sparisoma viride" (Bonnaterre, 1788)

References

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