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Nicholsina denticulata

Loosetooth Parrotfish
Collection Details

Event Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Scaridae (Parrotfishes) Nicholsina Nicholsina denticulata (Loosetooth Parrotfish)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: fusiform / normal.

Distribution

Eastern Pacific: Gulf of California to Ecuador and northern Peru. Also from the Galapagos Islands.

Habitat Associations

Marine. reef-associated. depth range 1-11 m.

Biology

Abundant in shallow coastal areas, especially in rocky coasts with macroalgae. May be solitary or swim in loose schools (Ref. 5227). Feeds by scraping or breaking off chunks of the reef and digest the algae that grows within, or they feed directly on algae (Ref. 28023).
Max length: 32.0 cm TL; common length: 20.0 cm TL.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-05-25. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: minor commercial.

References

Humann, P. and N. DeLoach (1993) Reef fish identification. Galápagos. New World Publications, Inc., Florida. 267 p.
Bellwood, D.R. (1995) Scaridae. Loros, pocochos. p. 1419-1426. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Grove, J.S. and R.J. Lavenberg (1997) The fishes of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 863 p.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.

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