Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus
Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus, Initial Phase (IP), Female. Fish caught out off the Anglin’s Fishing Pier, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, February 2015. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.word-press.com).
Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus, Initial Phase (IP), Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, August 2021. Length: 26 cm (10 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus, Initial Phase (IP), Female Transitioning To Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Fish caught out off the Anglin’s Fishing Pier, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, February 2015. Length: 22 cm (8.7 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus, Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, August 2021. Length: 28 cm (11 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus, is a member of the Parrotfish or Scaridae Family, and is known in Mexico as loro princesa. Globally, there are sixty-four species in the genus Scarus, of which ten are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic Ocean and four in the Pacific Ocean.
The Princess Parrotfish has an elongated moderately deep body that are somewhat compressed. Juveniles have horizontal black and white stripes and their caudal fin has a dark margin. Females in the initial phase (IP) have yellowish fins and dark brown stripes alternating with white stripes along their back and extending down to their pectoral fin base. Males in the terminal phase (TP) are overall blue-green and orange with a broad pale yellow stripe on the front of their body and under their pectoral fins; their head has 2 narrow blue-green stripes that pass through the upper and lower part of the eyes; and their caudal and dorsal fins have a yellow stripe and pink, orange or yellow borders. They have a pointed head with a small non-protractile mouth that opens at the front. Their front teeth are fused into a beak with broad plates. They have 1 or 2 canines on the rear side of their top jaw. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 9 rays; their caudal fin is slightly rounded; and their dorsal fin is continuous with 9 spines and 10 rays. They have 40 to 52 outer and 54 to 67 inner gill rakers. Their lateral line is broken into 2 sections and their body is covered with large smooth scales.
The Princess Parrotfish is found in and around coral reef and adjacent seagrass and algal bed environments at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). Juveniles inhabit turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) beds and move to coral reefs with maturity. They reach a maximum of 30 cm (12 inches) in length. They are primarily herbivorous that feed during the day on algae and live coral throughout the reef. They are known for making morning and evening migrations to new feeding sites. They are hermaphrodites and live in harems with a dominant male and migrate to the fringe of reefs for spawning. At night they retire into self-made slimy sleeping bags for protection against predation. The Princess Parrotfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Princess Parrotfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Atlantic but has a limited distribution being found only in coastal waters adjacent to the Yucatán Peninsula in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
The Princess Parrotfish is similar in shape to several other Parrotfish and is most likely confused with the Queen Parrotfish, Scarus vetula (long pointed snout with multiple colors and patterns) and the Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri (mid-sized line running from snout to caudal base).
From a conservation perspective the Princess Parrotfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are targeted by commercial fishermen utilizing gill nets, pots, and traps and considered to be an important food fish throughout the Caribbean. Current assessments indicate that their populations are stable, therefore they are not, at present, subject to overfishing. They are also a popular aquarium fish, however, they suffer from being large and require substantial water volume, thus do not have long lifespans in captivity. They are available on the internet with individual fish sold between $40 and $80 based on size and availability.