28 October ~ 2019

Parrotfish keep the reef clean by munching algae off the corals with their large teeth. They have special plates in their throat that grind up the material they chew on, and they poop out sand - large clouds of it: "Each parrotfish poops out up to 840 pounds a year" according to Jason Bittel in the Week . They are one of my favorites on the reef, especially at Bonaire, where they are not as shy as the parrotfish in the pacific and indo-pacific.