Fish Identification Photos: Azure Parrotfish, Scarus compressus: The Azure Parrotfish is a fish of many colors since it undergoes a sex reversal, with the females, the initial phase, being drab, and the males, the terminal phase, being brightly colored.

Both females and males have green, spoke-like, radiating lines around the eyes.

The females have an overall brownish coloration and five pale bars on the sides.

The males are green in color with orange-brown scales.

Mature fish have a slight hump on the forehead. A key diagnostic feature of the Azure Parrotfish is the pectoral fin ray count of 14. The Azure Parrotfish is easily confused with the Blue Barred Parrotfish, Scarus ghobban (15 pectoral fin rays).

Like all parrotfish, the Azure Parrotfish is seldom caught by anglers due to the fact that it dines on either algae or coral, being significant “bio-eroders” of the coral reef, providing valuable contributions to the structure via its excretions.

The Azure Parrotfish reaches 2 feet in length and 10 pounds in wieght. It is found in the first 75 feet of the water column around shallow reefs, adjacent to sand rubble. In Mexican waters the Azure Parrotfish ranges from Cabo San Lucas to Loreto along the eastern coast of the Baja peninsula and from Acapulco south to Guatemala along the coast of the Mexican mainland.

The Azure Parrotfish is the least abundant Parrotfish found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific and is a member of the Scaridae Family, which includes all species of parrotfish. They have elongated bodies covered with large, smooth scales, an un-notched dorsal fin, and fused teeth that form a parrot-like beak. Globally, there are 89 known species of parrotfish, six of which live in Mexican waters.

Azure Parrotfish, Scarus compressus: Female: Collected while out at sea, off the ocean surface with a bait net in October 2006, water temperature 84 degrees, about 5 miles east of La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Size, approximately 26 inches and six pounds. Fish identification reconfirmed by H.J. Walker, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif., via pectoral ray count. Description and photos courtesy of John Snow.