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NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
Any species of tropical bony fishes in the family Scaridae. Parrotfishes are abundant and common inhabitants of coral reef communities. Their teeth are fused into a sharp "parrot-like" beak strong enough to bite off pieces of stony corals. Some parrotfishes produce an enveloping mucous envelope that surrounds and presumably protects the body at night.
Industry:Natural environment
One of a series of knob- or comb-like projections on the front edge of the gill arch. Gill rakers aid in the fish's feeding. Their shape and number are a good indication of the diet of the fish. Fishes which eat large prey, such as other fishes, have short, widely spaced gill rakers that prevent the prey item from escaping between the gills. Fishes which eat smaller prey have longer, thinner and more numerous gill rakers. Species which feed on plankton have the longest, thinnest and most numerous gill rakers. Gill rakers also protect and clean the gill fillaments. Counts of gill rakers are used as taxonomic characters.
Industry:Natural environment
The conversion of inorganic carbon into organic carbon, usually by photosynthesis.
Industry:Natural environment
The number of different types of habitats within a given area.
Industry:Natural environment
The strand of duplex DNA which contains the same base sequence (after substituting Uracil for Thymine) found in the mrna molecule resulting from transcription of that segment of DNA., known as the sense strand. The mrna molecule is transcribed from the other strand, known as the template or antisense strand.
Industry:Natural environment
A destructive metabolic process by which organisms convert substances into excreted compounds.
Industry:Natural environment
