Sparisoma

Sparisoma Temporal range: 44–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Eocene to Present[1]
Sparisoma viride
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Labriformes
Family:	Scaridae
Genus:	Sparisoma Swainson, 1839
Type species
Scarus abildgaardi Bloch, 1791[2]
Species
See text.
Synonyms[3]
Callyodontichthys Bleeker, 1861 Euscarus Jordan & Evermann, 1896

Sparisoma is a genus of parrotfishes native to warmer parts of the Atlantic. FishBase recognizes 15 species in this genus,^[4] including S. rocha described from Trindade Island in 2010^[5] and S. choati described from the East Atlantic in 2012.^[6] They are the most important grazers of algae in the Caribbean Sea, especially since sea urchins, especially Diadema, the other prominent consumers of algae, have been reduced in many places by a recent epidemic.

The name was proposed by William John Swainson as a subgenus of Scarus. Sparus in Latin is a golden-headed fish, and soma means "body". The common spelling Sparisomus is incorrect.

The size of parrotfishes of this genus range from the rather small-sized S. radians with a known maximum length of 20 cm (7.9 in) to the large S. viride, which reaches lengths of up to 64 cm (25 in).

Members of this genus are sequential hermaphrodites, starting as females (known as the initial phase) and then changing to males (the terminal phase). However, some males are direct-developing, and these usually resemble the initial phase. These direct-developing and terminal phase males often display different mating strategies. In most species, the terminal phase is more colourful than the initial, but a notable exception to this rule is S. cretense. They use their pectoral fins to move; the caudal fin is reserved for rapid bursts of speed.

The genus Sparisoma is fairly successful, but populations have been falling somewhat because of overfishing and other human activities. However, as mentioned above, it is the main grazer of algae, but since populations have been falling, the coral reefs may be at risk, because too much algae is deleterious to coral.