Bermuda local variants?

[doctormike]

Hi, thanks for reading this...

I'm trying to identify two types of fish that I found in Bermuda this summer, not sure if they are just local variants of more common forms...

The first one looks a lot like the initial phase of a Yellowtail Parrotfish (yellow tail, outlined scales), but the body shape is unusual. It wasn't just this individual, there were a lot of them like this. It seems to have this double hump outline that I can't find in any of the usual sources. A puddingwife is more elongated than the typical parrotfish profile, but I don't think that it's one of those, it really looks like a parrotfish apart from the waistline...




The second one looks more like a Yellowhead Wrasse than anything else that I can find (with the vertical color division at the mid-body), but the color patterns are not typical for the Yellowhead - specifically, the back half of the dorsal markings are bright red and the ventral markings are bright blue (as opposed to the more typical dark blue dorsal and dusky ventral on the terminal phase Yellowheads that I have seen). I took what I suspect to be a series of the same species at different phases, but I could be wrong about that too...



Thanks for your help!

Best,

Mike

 

[Quero]

I think your first photo is of a Sprarisoma rubripinne, or "Redfin Parrotfish" and also known as "Yellowtail parrotfish." This would be the initial phase, before the coloration darkens. If you look closely, you can make out some pink tint on the pectoral fins (as well as on the face). The face and head of the lighter-colored animals seems to be rather more angular than the terminal phase ones.

And I think you're also right about the wrasse. Halichoeres garnoti, known in Bermuda as a "Redback" rather than as a "Yellowhead," I guess for obvious reasons!

 

[jar546]

Photo 1, I agree with Quero. Yellowtail Parrotfish, Initial Phase

One of the comments in the book I have for Initial Phase is: No consistent distinctive markings

I am, however, a little confused by the profile of the head in comparison to other parrotfish which appear to be more sleek than the more blunt profile in your picture.

 

[doctormike]

Thanks so much for the replies...!

Photo 1, I agree with Quero. Yellowtail Parrotfish, Initial Phase

One of the comments in the book I have for Initial Phase is: No consistent distinctive markings

I am, however, a little confused by the profile of the head in comparison to other parrotfish which appear to be more sleek than the more blunt profile in your picture.

Yup, as far as I have learned, color markings are VERY variable in parrotfish with individuals and with age. I usually look for a few defining spots. Its coloration looks just like the initial phase yellowtail parrot in the Paul Humann and Ned Deloach book. However, I'm still not convinced because the body shape is not something that should vary between different versions of the same species.

And I think you're also right about the wrasse. Halichoeres garnoti, known in Bermuda as a "Redback" rather than as a "Yellowhead," I guess for obvious reasons!

And once you mentioned that, I did a search for Redback and found this link. That's fascinating, that Bermuda should have a local variant of the Yellowhead...


Reports From the Field - 2009 Bermuda Field Survey | Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF)


If you look at the Puddingwife in that link, it looks a lot more colorful than the one in the book, and it has that elongated body, so maybe it's not a Yellowtail Parrotfish after all..? Perhaps I'll write someone in Bermuda to ask...

Thanks again!

M

 

[deborahdelamar]

It can only be a Yellowtail Parrotfish. There are no other Parrotfish family members in the Tropical Western Atlantic waters that look like this.

According to REEF's database for Bermuda, almost 2700 surveys were conducted with Yellowtail/Redfin Parrotfish reported on 22% of the surveys. The number seen per dive is usually 1 (the single category) but there are enough surveys reporting higher numbers to bring the average density very close to 2-10 individuals per dive. Keep in mind that most of the surveys from Bermuda (1600) were conducted by Novice surveyors who may not have known this species (it is considered an "advanced" fish) and REEF instructs its surveyors to report only the fish that they can positively, without any doubt, ID. So actual sighting frequency may be understated in the database.

 

[doctormike]

It can only be a Yellowtail Parrotfish. There are no other Parrotfish family members in the Tropical Western Atlantic waters that look like this.

I guess.... but I still don't understand that double hump..!

 

[doctormike]

The mystery has been solved! You are all correct, it is indeed a Yellowtail Parrotfish (AKA Redfin Parrotfish). BUT, there is a reason for the deformed body profile - courtesy of the ichthyology department at the Florida Museum of Natural History:


"Dear Dr. Rothschild,
Larry Page forwarded your inquiry to me and to Dr. Bill Smith-Vaniz and I went a step further and shared your photo with friend and colleague, Dr. Luiz Rocha.

Both Bill and Luiz are supremely equipped to answer your inquiry as Bill literally wrote the book on the Fishes of Bermuda and Luiz has been studying wrasses and parrotfishes as a major focal point of his career.

Luiz has responded with the following:

“Hi all, it is a terminal phase Sparisoma rubripinne. They get these "deformed" body shapes when they are very old, which is hard to get anywhere except Bermuda where parrotfish fishing is prohibited.

Cheers,

Luiz"

While Luiz is currently at the California Academy of Sciences, he got his PhD at UF, using the UF Fish Collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History where Larry and I work and where Bill Smith-Vaniz is research associate. We are all one big extended museum family of ichthyologists. J

I thank you very much for you interest in the Florida Museum and wish you many more enjoyable underwater experiences.

Best wishes,


Rob Robins

Robert H. Robins
Senior Biologist/Collection Manager
Division of Ichthyology

Florida Museum of Natural History
Dickinson Hall, Museum Road
University of Florida"