Fig. 326.—Sparisoma hoplomystax (Cope). Key West.
In the large genus Sparisoma the teeth are more completely joined. In this group, which is found only in the tropical Atlantic, the lower pharyngeals are broader than long and hexagonal. The teeth of the jaws are not completely united, the dorsal spines are pungent, the lateral line not interrupted, and the gill membranes broadly united to the isthmus.
Fig. 327.—Sparisoma abildgaardi (Bloch), Red Parrot-fish. Loro, Colorado. Family Scaridæ.
Of the numerous species the dull-colored Sparisoma flavescens is most abundant in the West Indies and ranges farther north than any other. Sparisoma cretense, the Scarus of the ancients, is found in the Mediterranean, being the only member of the family known in Europe and the only Sparisoma known from outside the West Indian fauna.
Other West Indian species are the red parrot-fish, Sparisoma abildgaardi, Sparisoma xystrodon, Sparisoma hoplomystax, the last two being small species about the Florida Keys, and the handsome Sparisoma viride from the West Indies.
Fig. 328.—Jaws of Blue Parrot-fish, Scarus cæruleus (Bloch).
Scarus is the great central genus of parrot-fishes. Its members are especially abundant in Polynesia and the East Indies, the center of distribution of the group, although some extend their range to western Mexico, Japan, the Red Sea, and Australia, and a large number are found in the West Indies. Most of them are fishes of large size, but a few, as the West Indian Scarus croicensis, reach the length of less than a foot, and other still smaller species (Scarus evermanni, Scarus bollmani) are found only in water of considerable depth (200 fathoms).
