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Chlorurus bleekeri Bleeker's parrotfish      
in mucous membrane
Kingdom - Animalia - animals
   Phylum - Chordata - chordates
      Subphylum - Vertebrata - vertebrates
         Superclass - Osteichthyes - peixe ósseo
            Class - Actinopterygii - poissons à nageoires rayonnées
               Subclass - Neopterygii - neopterygians
                  Infraclass - Teleostei
                     Superorder - Acanthopterygii
                        Order - Perciformes - perch-like fishes
                           Suborder - Labroidei - poissons-perroquets
                              Family - Scaridae (Rafinesque, 1810) - poissons-perroquets
                                 Subfamily - Scarinae
                                    Genus - Chlorurus (Swainson, 1839)
                                       Species - Chlorurus bleekeri (de Beaufort in Weber and de Beaufort, 1940)
Jack Randall Information

Jack Randall Book Cover
Chlorurus bleekeri
Chlorurus bleekeri (de Beaufort in Weber & de Beaufort, 1940) Pectoral rays 15; median predorsal scales 4; 2 rows of scales on cheek; 1 or 2 conical teeth on side of upper dental plate; lips not covering dental plates; caudal fin truncate; initial phase dark brown with a narrow reddish bar on each scale (reduced to a spot on caudal peduncle), often with broad whitish to pale yellowish bars (pale bars can be quickly turned on or off); upper lip with a narrow orange margin and dull blue-green submarginal band; chin orange with 3 transverse, dull blue-green bands; dorsal edge of orbit blue; pectoral fins and unscaled part of caudal fin brownish red; terminal males green with a salmon pink bar on each scale; a large, white to pale yellow, quadrangular area bordered with green on cheek, linked anteriorly to 2 narrow blue-green bands on chin; juveniles dark gray-brown, shading to whitish posteriorly, often with 2 or 3 faint whitish stripes. Attains about 30 cm. Philippines to Great Barrier Reef, east to Fiji, Samoa Islands, and islands of Micronesia; type locality, Ternate, Molucca Islands.


Fishbase Information (FISHBASE.ORG)

Bleekers parrotfish 

49.0 cm TL (male/unsexed; Ref. 9710)

reef-associated; marine

tropical; 12°N - 24°S

Western Central Pacific: Moluccas to Fiji, north to the Marshall Islands, south to Rowley Shoals (?), the Great Barrier Reef, and Vanuatu; Palau (Belau) to the eastern Caroline and Marshall Islands in Micronesia.

Dorsal spines(total): 9; Dorsal soft rays(total): 10; Analspines: 3; Analsoft rays: 9. Scales large. 4 medial predorsal scales; 2 scale rows on cheek. Caudal fin truncate in both phases. Lips do not cover dental plates. Adults with 1-2 canines posteriorly on side of upper dental plate. The initial phase is reddish-brown with a diffuse yellowish patch in the center of the caudal peduncle and markings on the lips similar to those of the terminal male (Ref. 1602). Males identified by white patch on cheek and females strongly barred (Ref. 48636).

Found in clear coastal and inner reefs (Ref. 48636); in lagoons and channel reefs (Ref. 2334). Feeds mainly on algae (Ref. 26993). Females usually in small groups and maybe mixed with other species when feeding; males solitary nearby (Ref. 48636).

Fishbase Credit - Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2005.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (06/2005).