Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Love the maculiceps in the pic too
Quoyi parrotfish reef safe?
- Thread starter Dmorty217
- Start date
Love the maculiceps in the pic too
Rea17
New member
Definitely! Tangs are my favorite, I have a flock as it is. My fowleri was my "large" tang choice, though I seriously considered a maculiceps.
beachbreak
New member
The face paint is AWESOME! Beautiful fish...
rssjsb
New member
Ok, this is my general understanding of parrot and wrasse phases:OK, so somebody help me. What phases do they go through? Are the males different from the females, do they go through all the phases eventually or do they stop at a given phase? Please educate me.
In a group, there is one terminal phase male, several females, and initial phase males. If the terminal phase male dies, one of the females transitions to male and becomes terminal. Initial phase males do not transition to terminal phase. The transition from female to terminal male is permanent (hence the word "terminal").
That part I didn't know... why wouldn't the initial phase male just "finish off" the transition?
DFS
.Registered Member
Most species of labroids are protogynous and sexually dichromatic, with at least 2 color morphs — a usually drab-colored ‘initial phase’ (IP, either female or female and precocious male), and a brighter-colored ‘terminal phase’ (TP) male (Robertson & Warner 1978, Warner & Robertson 1978).
In some lineages of protogynous fishes, 2 types of males occur: in some groups males are monandric (all derived from sex-changed females), whereas in other groups (like most scarinine parrot-fishes of the genera Scarus and Chlorurus : Robertson et al. 1982), males are diandric, i.e. derived from either undifferentiated juveniles or from sex-changed females.
With few exceptions, changes in coloration and sex are synchronous in scarids (Choat & Robertson 1975, Bruce 1980); less is known about sex and color change syn-chronicity in labrids (Warner & Robertson 1978, Moyer 1991)
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2005/297/m297p259.pdf
In some lineages of protogynous fishes, 2 types of males occur: in some groups males are monandric (all derived from sex-changed females), whereas in other groups (like most scarinine parrot-fishes of the genera Scarus and Chlorurus : Robertson et al. 1982), males are diandric, i.e. derived from either undifferentiated juveniles or from sex-changed females.
With few exceptions, changes in coloration and sex are synchronous in scarids (Choat & Robertson 1975, Bruce 1980); less is known about sex and color change syn-chronicity in labrids (Warner & Robertson 1978, Moyer 1991)
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2005/297/m297p259.pdf
beachbreak
New member
That is how you drop knowledge!
jazzman7838
New member
Scarus iserti is reef safe as well. Looks almost identical to the Princess, with differences on the margins of the caudal fin being the easiest way to distinguish.
CedzAquAddictio
New member
I agree. Think those books are referring to the larger parrots that actually eat rock, coral, and algae and excrete sand? Like the pic SDGuy posted earlier with the hump head. I can definitely see those being discouraged, but not the Scarus species.
Rea17
New member
+1
I also think that the food consumption of parrots is what scares people. As sad as it is, most "difficult" fish are only labelled as such because they require a little extra food a couple times a day and maintaining good water quality.
jazzman7838
New member
They wouldn't be the first group of fish that have been unfairly labeled as unkeepable.
jazzman7838
New member
Dunno. They are rather easy to feed. Much like tangs, they just try to nibble on everything after a while. Pellets and algae tabs are taken with gusto. It's pretty simple to feed this stuff automatically several times a day.
Not really.... often even common parrots won't feed in captivity. Mine was eating at the LFS... the next one that came in did not.
jazzman7838
New member
So your experience with one fish that just arrived at a LFS leads you to conclude this? :strange:
They are grazers, just like rabbits and tangs. It is really not difficult to get many species to start nibbling on stuff. Certainly much easier to get eating than some angelfish can be. The stigma in the hobby of parrots in general is based on an incomplete understanding of the different genera that make up the family. Obviously the big 4' bruisers are problematic, but there are smaller species that do fine.
Sparisoma atomarium
Sparisoma aurofrenatum
Scarus iserti
Scarus spinus
Scarus quoyi
Scarus taeniopterus
:thumbsup:
