Hudson T. Pinheiro, Brasilien
Info
Pinheiro, Gasparini & Sazima, 2010
Very special thanks for the first two photos of Sparisoma rocha to Dr. Hudson Pinheiro from the University of California Santa Cruz.
Dr. Hudson provided two photos to reeflex.net, one with a parottfish in the terminal phase (male) and one with a fish in the initial phase (red coloured).
Dr. Hudson is not "only" a brilliant photographer, he is member of the team that described Sparisoma rocha as a new species in 2010, please click on the link to his original description:
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/zt02493p065.pdf
The new parottfish was named in honor of his scientific researches to Dr. Luiz A. Rocha (who unfortunately does not want to support reeflex.net).
Sparisoma rocha sp. n. differs from its South-western Atlantic congeners (Moura et al. 2001, Gasparini et al . 2003) by the following unique combination of colour characters: initial phase (IP) red overall with a brownish shade from lower jaw to over the abdominal cavity, sparse orange blotches on head, and pale circumpeduncular band; terminal phase (TP) reddish brown with orange stripe from jaw angle to end of preopercle, sparse orange blotches on head, three pinkish to reddish stripes from about midline to dorsum, from midline to belly pale greyish green to whitish with suffusion of pale reddish brown, a black spot on base of pectoral fins and a bright-yellow blotch below this spot.
Sparisoma rocha is a scraper recording grazing upon epilithic algae growing on rocky and calcareous substrata at 10–25 m depth.
The males are solitary, whereas the females may be seen alone or in couples and accompanied by juveniles. Small juveniles (about 2-5 cm) associate with mixed groups of the labrids Halichoeres penrosei (Starks, 1913) and Thalassoma noronhanum , which have a similar colour pattern.
This association may be considered as a form of social mimicry .
Sparisoma rocha is presently known only from Trindade Island (20 °31’S, 29°19’W), a volcanic formation off SE Brazil, South-western Atlantic.
Text source:
Zootaxa: Sparisoma rocha, a new species of parrotfish (Actinopterygii: Labridae) from Trindade Island, South-western Atlantic
Authors: Drs. H. T. Pinheiro, João Luiz Gasparini & , Ivan Sazima
Published: 3, June 2010
Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Pisces (Superclass) > Actinopterygii (Class) > Perciformes (Order) > Labroidei (Suborder) > Scaridae (Family) > Sparisomatinae (Subfamily) > Sparisoma (Genus) > Sparisoma rocha (Species)
Very special thanks for the first two photos of Sparisoma rocha to Dr. Hudson Pinheiro from the University of California Santa Cruz.
Dr. Hudson provided two photos to reeflex.net, one with a parottfish in the terminal phase (male) and one with a fish in the initial phase (red coloured).
Dr. Hudson is not "only" a brilliant photographer, he is member of the team that described Sparisoma rocha as a new species in 2010, please click on the link to his original description:
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/zt02493p065.pdf
The new parottfish was named in honor of his scientific researches to Dr. Luiz A. Rocha (who unfortunately does not want to support reeflex.net).
Sparisoma rocha sp. n. differs from its South-western Atlantic congeners (Moura et al. 2001, Gasparini et al . 2003) by the following unique combination of colour characters: initial phase (IP) red overall with a brownish shade from lower jaw to over the abdominal cavity, sparse orange blotches on head, and pale circumpeduncular band; terminal phase (TP) reddish brown with orange stripe from jaw angle to end of preopercle, sparse orange blotches on head, three pinkish to reddish stripes from about midline to dorsum, from midline to belly pale greyish green to whitish with suffusion of pale reddish brown, a black spot on base of pectoral fins and a bright-yellow blotch below this spot.
Sparisoma rocha is a scraper recording grazing upon epilithic algae growing on rocky and calcareous substrata at 10–25 m depth.
The males are solitary, whereas the females may be seen alone or in couples and accompanied by juveniles. Small juveniles (about 2-5 cm) associate with mixed groups of the labrids Halichoeres penrosei (Starks, 1913) and Thalassoma noronhanum , which have a similar colour pattern.
This association may be considered as a form of social mimicry .
Sparisoma rocha is presently known only from Trindade Island (20 °31’S, 29°19’W), a volcanic formation off SE Brazil, South-western Atlantic.
Text source:
Zootaxa: Sparisoma rocha, a new species of parrotfish (Actinopterygii: Labridae) from Trindade Island, South-western Atlantic
Authors: Drs. H. T. Pinheiro, João Luiz Gasparini & , Ivan Sazima
Published: 3, June 2010
Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Pisces (Superclass) > Actinopterygii (Class) > Perciformes (Order) > Labroidei (Suborder) > Scaridae (Family) > Sparisomatinae (Subfamily) > Sparisoma (Genus) > Sparisoma rocha (Species)
