Quoy's parrotfish

Quoy's parrotfish is a western Pacific reef fish that grows to about 40 cm. It likes coral-rich ground in outer channels and along seaward reefs, in the top 18 m or so. You will usually see one on its own, or a few together, working the bottom for algae. At high water they move up over flats that are bare at low tide and graze there while the water lasts.

Also known as: quoy's parrotfish, parrotfish, greenblotch parrotfish, quoy's parrotfish, greenblotch parrotfish

Green parrotfish all look alike on a first pass, so wait until the fish turns its head towards you. This one has a dark green mark that runs across the face like a moustache, set off by a paler green patch beside it. That face marking stays put, while body colour shifts between green, blue and purple from fish to fish. On a green parrotfish with a square-cut tail, the moustache is the mark that settles it.

The overall colour is green, sometimes leaning purple or blue. There is often a pink patch around the base of the pectoral fin, on the side of the chest. A bright lime-green saddle sits on the upper edge of the tail base, where the body narrows into the tail fin. The tail fin itself is straight-edged to slightly rounded, not forked. The lips cover most of the fused tooth plates, so little of the beak shows.

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  Bicolour parrotfish

  Cetoscarus bicolor

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  Bleeker's parrotfish

  Chlorurus bleekeri

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  Blue-barred parrotfish

  Scarus ghobban

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  Bridled parrotfish

  Scarus frenatus

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  Carolines parrotfish

  Calotomus carolinus

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  Chameleon Parrotfish

  Scarus chameleon