Fish of the Sparisoma genus of the Scaridae (parrotfishes) family of the Labroidei suborder of the Perciformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Parrotfish female. Photo by © Sacha Lobenstein. enelmar.es)
Parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depth of 1-50 meters. It prefers to swim close to a rocky bottom. Females are brighter than males. The maximum recorded length is 50 cm, specimens up to 30 cm long are more common. It feeds on algae and small invertebrates.
(Parrotfish male. Photo by © Szilas. en.wikipedia.org)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea, which is more often found in its southern part.
Names of parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense) in other languages as follows:
Σκάρος (Skaros) (Greek), Loro viejo (Spanish), Pesce pappagallo (Italian), Europäischer Papageifisch (German), Sparysoma kreteńska (Polish), Veja (Portuguese), Средиземноморская лора (Sredizemnomorskaja lora) (Russian), Papigača (Serbian, Croatian), İskaroz (Turkish), Perroquet vieillard (French).