Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Initial Phase (IP), Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Big Pine Key, Florida, July 2019. Length: 10.9 cm (4.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Initial Phase (IP), Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Big Pine Key, Florida, July 2019. Length: 11.2 cm (4.4 inches).Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Initial Phase (IP), Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Miami, Florida, January 2022. Length: 13 cm (6.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Aidan Perkins, Long Island, New York.

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Fish caught off a coastal pier in Key Largo, Florida, December 2013. Length: 14 cm (6.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Marigot Harbor, St. Martin, July 2015. Length: 13.5 cm (5.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off the Silver Palm Park, Boca Raton, Florida, January 2016. Length: 21.5 cm (8.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters of Yal-Ku, Quintana Roo, April 2016. Photograph courtesy of Juan Rojo, Akumal.

The Striped Parrotfish, Scarus iseri, is a member of the Parrotfish or Scaridae Family, and is known in Mexico as loro listado. Globally, there are sixty-four species in the genus Scarus, of which ten are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Striped Parrotfish is a relatively small fish with an elongated moderately compressed body. They vary greatly in color depending on their phase. Juveniles are pale with three dark stripes along their body, a yellow snout, and a transparent caudal fin. Initial phase (IP) females have brown upper bodies that transition to pale gray ventrally; their caudal base is brown and their caudal fin transparent; they have 2 white stripes above and below their eyes, a yellowish snout, and several yellow to orange dotted lines along their belly. Terminal phase (TP) males are blue-gray dorsally and transition to white ventrally; their head is yellowish-pink below and has a dark purple stripe with an aqua border that runs from the snout through the eye to the center of the gill cover and back along the center line of the body changing to red or yellow on the front part of the body then fading away further back on the body; they also have a black spot at the rear corner of their gill cover followed by a cream colored stripe. Their anal, caudal, and dorsal fins are pinkish with blue outer edges. Their head has teeth fused into a beak with two broad joined plates on each jaw. Their top jaw overlaps the lower jaw at the front and they have one or two canine teeth on the rear side of their top jaw. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 9 rays; their caudal fin is bluntly rounded; and, their dorsal fin has 9 spines and 10 rays. They have 40 to 51 gill rakers. Their body is covered with large scales. Their lateral line has 2 sections.

The Striped Parrotfish are a schooling species found in coral reefs and associated seagrasses at depths up to 61 m (200 feet). Juveniles are found in seagrass beds. They reach a maximum of 27 cm (11 inches) in length. Their primary food source is algae. They are protogynous hermaphrodites with some males spawning individually with females and others in aggregations. They have a lifespan of up to eight years. The Striped 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 Striped Parrotfish is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Striped Parrotfish is most likely confused with the Princess Parrotfish, Scarus taeniopterus (no dark stripe from eye to gill cover).

From a conservation perspective the Striped Parrotfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. The continual loss of coral reefs is of concern to their long-term viability. Although small in stature, they are are fished and sold commercially.