Sexual Patterns in the Labroid Fishes of the Western Caribbean, II: The Parrotfishes (Scaridae)

Robertson, D.; Warner, Robert

Robertson, D. Ross, and Robert R. Warner. Sexual Patterns in the Labroicl Fishes of the Western Caribbean, II: The Parrotfishes (Scaridae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 255, 26 pages, 12 figures, 6 tables, 1978.The interactions of protogynous sex change, coloration, and mating behavior in ten species of Caribbean parrotfishes are outlined. The species considered are Cryptotornus roseus, Sparisorna rubripinne, S. chrysopterum, S. viride, S. aurofrenatum, S. radians, S. atomarium, Scarus vetula, S. croicensis, and S. taeniopterus. For each, we outline (1) the distribution of sexual types according to size and coloration, (2) the testis weight of different types of males, (3) characteristic habitat and relative abundance, (4) the social and mating system, and (5) breeding seasonality. Non-sex-changing (primary) males are absent in the sparisomatines but present in the scarinines and prematurational sex change is much more common among the sparisomatine species. There are also very large overlaps in size and coloration among the various sexual types of the sparisomatines. Large testes are present in small males of some species, and this is related to their interference spawning strategy. In species that do not occur at high density but do have haremic mating systems, small males are rare or absent. This is probably due to an increased ability of large males to control spawning in females. Haremic species are much more common in the parrotfishes than in the wrasses, perhaps because of basic differences in the distribution of food resources in time and space.

Sexual Patterns in the Labroid Fishes of the Western Caribbean, II: The Parrotfishes (Scaridae)

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