Scarus croi.ceiisJ-.s (Bloch) . Striped or Mottled Parrotfish, 



This is one of the. most conspicuous and numerous fish£s on reefs 

 in Lamesfmr Bay, usually seen in groups tfiat sometimes include 

 otter fisfi- species. It is easily confused, even in tfie adult phase, 

 with, the princess parrotfish,, S_. taeniopterus . On July 27, from 

 0603 to 1018 hours, ten striped individuals of assorted sizes were 

 obseirved feeding on diatoms and detritus collected on the "screen" 

 of a sea fan; on July 8, midday, three moved together from the 

 reef to the plain and began eating Avrainvillea , ignoring 

 Udotea and other algal species in the area. On July 15, midday, 

 six traveled together and on July 17, four large individuals were 

 seen moving over the plain, pausing occasionally to graze. One to 

 several (apparently of this species) were commonly seen in company 

 with surgeonf ishes , goatf ishes and other species of parrotf ishes 

 in grazing groups on the algal plain. By day, several S . croicensis 

 were always actively scraping filamentous algae (mostly Phaeophyta) 

 from the habitat's surface. Among samples of 15 species of plants 

 brought from the plain to the reef for feeding trials, S^. croicensis 

 selectively chose Halimeda. 



Beebee and Tee-Van (1928) indicate that S_. croicensis is common in 

 beds of sea grass and that diet consists of algae, crustaceans, etc. 

 Stomach contents of nine specimens examined by Randall (1967) 

 included 100% algae of nine species, all filamentous or leafy. 



Scarus taeniopterus (Desmarest) . Princess or Painted Tail Parrotfish 



This species , difficult to distinguish from S^. croicensis , was only 

 seen on the reef. During feeding trials, one adult surveyed the 

 assortment of 9 plant species offered, then selectively fed upon the 

 sea grass, Sy ring odium . Randall (1967) examined stomach contents of 

 eight specimens and found 81.2% filamentous algae (one had fed almost 

 entirely on Polysiphonla ferulacea) and 17.3% consisted of the sea 

 grass, Thalassia testudintmi . 



Scarus yetula (Bloch and Schneider) . Queen Parrotfish 



Individuals apparently of this species were occasionally seen on the 

 main reef, but were not found on the algal plain. Randall examined 

 14 specimens and obtained 94.0% algae in the stomach contents, 

 including 8 filamentous and 5 fleshy species. An additional 3.2% 

 consisted of the sea grass, Thalassia testudinum . 



Sparisoma aurofrenatum (Valenciennes) . Redband Parrotfish 



The redband parrotfish, commonly seen alone on the main reef, sometimes 

 occurred with groups of grazing fishes on the algal plain. On July 20, 

 at 0708 hours, seven S. aurofrenatxmi were seen moving quickly away 



VI-149 



