Princess Parrotfish

Description:

Terminal phase: Body blue to green, with two blue to green stripes extending from the snout and passing across the eye. Borders of the tail yellow to orange or pink. Midbody with a yellow or orangish stripe, fading toward the rear. A distinct yellow or orange or pink stripe runs along the base of the fin.

Habitat:

Seal Cay, Belize

Notes:

The Princess Parrotfish are named for their unique parrot-like beak. Their teeth are arranges in a tightly-packed mosaic on the outside of the jaw bones, forming a beak they use to rasp algae from coral and rocks. After they digest the rock, they excrete it as sand, helping to create small islands and the sandy beaches of the Caribbean. One Parrotfish can produce 90 kg of sand each year.