South Florida Parrotfish

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Kkeel
South Florida Parrotfish
<p>I caught this little fella among some rocks in Biscayne Bay, Florida. I've looked through several ID books and did some searching on the web and I'm still not sure what type of Parrotfish it is. Can anyone help?<a href="http://imgur.com/gallery/f9SM0OW">http://imgur.com/gallery/f9SM0OW</a></p>
asianangler
Easy

Redband parrotfish, initial phase.

I spent half my money on fishing, gambling, alcohol, women and billiards. The other half I wasted.

asianangler
Yep, I'm blind

Hold on just a moment, I was wrong. That fish isn't a parrotfish (Halicoeres genus (puddingwife, blackear, slippery)) at all. You got yourself a juvenile bluehead wrasse there. Compare it with this photo for cross referencing, you'll see the resemblance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassoma_bifasciatum#/media/File:Thalassoma_bifasciatum_(Bluehead_Wrasse)_juvenile_yellow_stage_over_Bispira_brunnea_(Social_Feather_Duster_Worms).jpg

I spent half my money on fishing, gambling, alcohol, women and billiards. The other half I wasted.

Kkeel
Bluehead

It had a beak so I'm pretty confident it is a Parrotfish. It is also too big to be a juvenile bluehead so I don't think that's it. I appreciate you trying to help though!

Kenman
Kenman's picture
Princess Parrotfish

I'm pretty sure it's a princess parrotfish.

Kenman

asianangler
not sure what species

Probably most likely in the Sparisoma or Scarus genera.

I spent half my money on fishing, gambling, alcohol, women and billiards. The other half I wasted.

uconn fishhead
uconn fishhead's picture
Washed out Initial Phase Striped Parrotfish

I was confused and intrigued by this one, so I asked a sharpie on INaturalist.  She's really good at Parrotfish, so I'd heed her.  Here's the list of criteria:

1) Yellowish dorsal, ventral and pectoral fins, 2) White stripes on belly, 3) Blue eye, 4) Barely discernable body stripes, 5) No dark margin on caudal fin (which rules out Princess).

Angling-caught Parrots can be confusing because they are chameleons.  They often lose their color when stressed.

Kkeel
Striped Parrotfish

I'll always take an expert's advice so I'll put it down as a striped parrotfish. But yeah this fish was quite an enigma to me. I had never seen a Parrotfish like this in any of my books or while diving.

asianangler
i see the resemblance

Looks kinda like a Labidochromis caeruleus

I spent half my money on fishing, gambling, alcohol, women and billiards. The other half I wasted.