Name these Parrot Fish of Bonaire

[drrich2]

Hi:

Back from a recent Bonaire trip & working on a Blurb book of photos. Would like to get specific I.D.s on a lot of animals we photographed. In this thread, let's take a look at Parrot Fish.

1.)

2.)

3.)

4.) (Top & Bottom fish)

5.)

6.)

7.) Stop Light Parrotfish, right?

8.) Queen vs. Blue Parrotfish?

9.)

10.) Blue Parrotfish?

11.) Another?

12.)

Thanks for your help!

Richard.

 

[Karibelle]

1, 2, 3, 12 are stoplight parrotfish in their initial phase. 7 is a stoplight in the terminal phase. 4 has both a terminal (top) and initial (bottom).

5 is a striped, I think.

I think 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are all queens. How big were they? Blues are quite a bit larger (most of the time, you do see smaller ones sometimes) than the rest of the parrots, and have a pronounced nose on them.

You are an excellent candidate for the Humann Fish ID books. www.fishid.com will provide hours of entertainment.

kari

 

[drrich2]

Thanks, Kari. I bookmarked the site.

Hard to estimate the sizes; some of these photos are crops, of course. The parrotfish at Bonaire let us get fairly close, but not that close. I'd estimate most around a foot long, some 1.5 or 2 feet, but I'm a poor judge of such things.

The juvenile color phase differences vs. the adults really throw me.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=186515

 

[Karibelle]

Thanks, Kari. I bookmarked the site.

Hard to estimate the sizes; some of these photos are crops, of course. The parrotfish at Bonaire let us get fairly close, but not that close. I'd estimate most around a foot long, some 1.5 or 2 feet, but I'm a poor judge of such things.

The juvenile color phase differences vs. the adults really throw me.

It's also helpful to have sort of a greater "situational awareness" when looking at fish. The stoplights, for example - they usually come in a group that is a harem. So there will be one of the terminal males (the colourful ones) and several of the initial phase females (the black and red and white ones). Rainbow parrots most often come in a group of two to six, in my experience. You'll know when you see one of those, as they're big (1.5 to 3 feet) and are distinctive orange and green. Blues, in my experience, often come as individuals or pairs, rather than as a group. Same with midnight parrots - individuals or pairs. The ones that we see most often are the stoplights, the princess, queens, and striped. Terminal phase parrots are always easier to tell apart than initial phase! These are the ones with the most distinctive markings... In terminal phase parrots, the tails are slightly different, as are the markings on the face and sometimes side body.

good luck - you're well on your way to becoming a bonafide fish nerd! and I love looking at pics...

kari

 

[jaybombs25]

A fun fact for the stoplight parrots if the male in the group dies, the lead female actually changes into a male and takes up the new leadship role

 

[H2Andy]

1,2,3, and 12 are stoplight parrotfishes in their initial phase

4 is probably a terminal phase stoplight on top and an initial phase stoplight on the bottom

(like Karibelle says)

i'm stomped on 5

6, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are queen terminals

7 is a stoplight terminal