Stoplight parrotfish
Sparisoma viride
Sighting evidence at Folkestone Reef Barbados, Barbados
Photo: Kevin Bryant · CC BY-NC-SA
Stoplight parrotfish are reef engineers: their powerful beaks scrape algae and dead coral from the reef surface, producing the fine white sand that covers Caribbean beaches. A single large male can produce 90 kg of sand per year. At Folkestone the absence of spearfishing has allowed terminal phase males to grow to their full 50 cm length, making this one of the best places in Barbados to observe this species at its most spectacular.
Evidence at this site
No confirmed records on file at this site
Stoplight parrotfish is listed as a curated species here based on historical reports.