HIPPOSCARUS LONGICEPS - (VALENCIENNES, 1840)
Picture courtesy of: Gloup Noumea
Poisson-perroquet à long nez, Long-nosed parrotfish, Longnose parrotfish, Pacific longnose parrotfish, Red-stripe parrotfish, Kitsune-budai, キツネブダイ, 長吻鸚哥魚, 長頭馬鸚嘴魚,
Synonyme
Scarus longiceps (Valenciennes, 1840)
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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 9. Adults best recognized by the shape of the head. Max. length: 60.0 cm TL, common length: 48.0 cm SL. Depth range: 2 - 40 m.
Color
Small juveniles are light brownish with a broad longitudinal orange band; The primary phase is a whitish brown to light gray with a yellowish tail; The terminal phase is light blue and green.
Etymology
Hipposcarus: from Greek, ippos = horse + from Latin, scarus = scare, or sea fish (scare is the generic vernacular name for parrot-fishes). The Latin word is derived from Greek, skaros, same meaning as Latin word. The Greek knew this family throug Sparisoma cretense (Linnaeus, 1758), reported from their coasts, Aristote described the viscus. The genus has been described for the first time by Pehr Forsskål in 1775.
longiceps: from Latin, longus = long + from Latin suffix, -ceps = head. The name refers to the relatively elongate head of this fish.
Original description: Scarus longiceps Valenciennes, 1840 - Type locality: Waigeo, Indonesia.
Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: Cocos-Keeling Islands and Indonesia, east to Micronesia, Line Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, north to Ryukyu Islands (Japan), south to northern Australia and New Caledonia.
Biology
This species inhabits sand and rubble areas around shallow lagoon reefs, but may also occur over seaward reef flat. Usually seen in aggregations; Females usually in small groups. It is fished in most of its range with localized declines from harvesting in the Coral Triangle Region. Feeds on benthic algae.
Similar species
Hipposcarus harid (Fabricius, 1775) - Reported from Red Sea; Indian Ocean: East Africa (Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya), Seychelles, Madagascar, Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues), Maldives and Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), east to Andaman Sea and Java (Indonesia).
This species inhabits sand and rubble areas around shallow lagoon reefs, but may also occur over seaward reef flat. Usually seen in aggregations; Females usually in small groups. It is fished in most of its range with localized declines from harvesting in the Coral Triangle Region. Feeds on benthic algae.
Similar species
Hipposcarus harid (Fabricius, 1775) - Reported from Red Sea; Indian Ocean: East Africa (Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya), Seychelles, Madagascar, Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues), Maldives and Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), east to Andaman Sea and Java (Indonesia).