Here is a humphead parrotfish looking for some coral to eat

Today I want to write about a really cool looking fish, the humphead parrotfish.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These strange looking fish grow up to 1.3 metres long and can weigh over 50 kg, making them the largest species of parrotfish in the world.
2. Humphead parrotfish use their strange, bony heads to ram into coral to break pieces off into more bite-sized chunks.  Males also ram each other in a show of strength.
3. Their front teeth are fused together, giving them a very powerful bite that can bite through hard coral.  They also have very hard back teeth that are used to grind the coral down into a paste.
4. They live in shoals of up to 75 fish in shallow water around lagoons and reefs.
5.  Also known as the bumphead parrotfish, the buffalo parrotfish and the giant parrotfish, the humphead parrotfish is found in coral reefs throughout the Indian Ocean, central and western Pacific Ocean and Red Sea and are most common in the Great Barrier Reef.  They are considered vulnerable to extinction due to excessive fishing.  Thankfully they are now protected across most of their range.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about humphead parrotfish?