Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) >
Perciformes (Perch-likes) >
Scaridae (Parrotfishes) > Scarinae
Etymology: Chlorurus: Greek, chloros = green + Greek oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 50 m (Ref. 90102), usually 1 - 15 m (Ref. 89972). Tropical, preferred ?; 30°N - 32°S
Pacific Ocean: Bali and the Philippines to the Line and Pitcairn islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to Rottnest Island, Lord Howe Island and Rapa Island (Ref. 37816). The species complex comprise of Chlorurus gibbus in the Red Sea, Chlorurus strongylocephalus in the Indian Ocean and Chlorurus microrhinos in the west-central Pacific.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2334); common length : 49.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 37816); common length :40 cm SL (female); max. published weight: 5.4 kg (Ref. 37816)
Dorsal
spines
(total): 9;
Dorsal
soft rays
(total): 10;
Anal
spines: 3;
Anal
soft rays: 9. Juveniles below about 8 cm are black with several horizontal white streaks. Larger ones up to about 20 cm uniformly dark, greenish brown, slowly becoming blue with age. Blue streak and patch extending behind the corner of the mouth of large males often quite brilliant. Uniformly yellowish-tan individuals rare. Caudal fin lunate in large terminal males. Scale rows on cheek 3. Median predorsal scales 3-4 (Ref. 37816). Males develop large hump on head and appear blunt-headed (Ref. 48636).
Occurs in lagoon and seaward reefs. Juveniles generally solitary; large adults often school together. Feeds on benthic algae (Ref. 89972).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205).
Parenti, P. and J.E. Randall, 2000. An annotated checklist of the species of the labroid fish families Labridae and Scaridae. Ichthyol. Bull. J.L.B. Smith Inst. Ichthyol. (68):1-97. (Ref. 35918)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 94142)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)
Human uses
More information
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
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Estimates of some properties based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82805): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01660 (0.01086 - 0.02537), b=3.03 (2.91 - 3.15), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Resilience (Ref.
69278): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tmax=14; k=0.22).
Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Moderate vulnerability (37 of 100) .