Common Name: Bluebarred Parrotfish

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and South Africa to Rapa and Ducie Islands, north to southern Japan, south to central New South Wales. In Australia recorded from Perth in Western Australia, around the tropical north including the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to Sydney in New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Adults frequent seaward reefs and lagoons, slopes and drop-offs, males common in atolls at shallower depths, females preferring deeper habitat. Juveniles inshore in algal reef habitat, sometimes entering silty environments. Depth 1 – 90 m.

Additional Notes: Curved bars on body of juveniles and females formed by large white or blue scales. Feed on algae scraped off rocks and corals. Are protogynous hermaphrodites, the sex change from female to male taking place at around 7 years of age. Grows to around 90 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.348.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Scarus+ghobban. Accessed 07/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Scarus-ghobban.html. Accessed 07/07/18.