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Bumphead parrotfish
Bolbometopon muricatum
The largest of the parrotfish, the bumphead, is thought to ram its big head against coral, making it easier to eat.
Statistics
Bumphead parrotfish are about 130cm in length.
Physical Description
This is a large fish with a hard beak-like mouth, a little like a parrot's bill. It has a sizeable bump on its head. Its body is green or bluish-green, sometime pink at the front of the face. Juveniles lack the head bump.
Distribution
They are found in Indian and Pacific oceans.
Habitat
Juveniles inhabit lagoons, adults live in lagoons and on coral reefs.
Diet
Parrotfish are herbivores and use their hard beaks to scrape algae and coral from the hard rock surface.
Behaviour
They are commonly found singly, or in small groups, often at night around caves and shipwrecks.
Reproduction
Parrotfish are hermaphrodites, that is, both sex organs being found in every fish. They commonly begin life as females, and undergo physical and physiological changes to become males. Sex change typically happens when the resident male leaves, or dies, with the top female changing sex to replace him.
Conservation status
Bumphead parrotfish are not considered threatened. As algae-eating herbivores, they are important reef fish preventing algae from overgrowing the reef.
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