Parrotfish – Eating and “pooping” their way to healthy reefs!
Mainly found near and around coral reefs, parrotfish are reef fish which are significant to our coral reefs as they graze and eat algae found on corals. They are the reef’s gracious and indispensable gardeners, removing the algae that compete with corals. This prevents the corals from being overgrown and becoming smothered. Additionally, they feed mainly on algae extracted from pieces of coral bitten off from the reef using their teeth which have been fused into powerful beaks, much like a parrots’ beak – hence their name. As much as 90% of their day may be spent nibbling away at the reef. The rock and...
May 14, 2020