The marbled parrotfish (Leptoscarus vaigiensis) lives in sheltered bays, just like Emily Bay here on Norfolk Island. Unlike other parrotfish, once a boy, always a boy (or for that matter, girl). It never changes sex as it matures.
In this case, we know it’s a boy because it has a pale stripe and those tiny blue spots. As you can see from some of the photos, it likes to camouflage itself, disappearing into the seagrass and algae on which it feeds.
I first spotted this one on 20 December 2020, and since then I’ve seen it looking quite different at different times, so much so that I thought they were two different fish entirely. This morning, though, I was getting in his face to take some photos when he decided he’d had enough and departed, changing colour completely, becoming much paler and less mottled looking. You can see the change in the sequence of photos.
According to Whatsthatfish, at night they make a sleeping bag out of slime bubbles for protection against predators. That’s pretty cool!
The reason I wanted to get so close was that I was intrigued by his rosy mouth – inside and out (see right). To me he looked like an old man who is smiling while chewing betel (areca) nut!
Although widespread across the Indo-Pacific region, they are, according to Fishes of Australia, rare within that range. Apparently, they also move in small groups. I’ve only ever seen this guy on his own. Other names include slender parrotfish, petroleum parrotfish, seagrass parrotfish, or blue-spotted parrotfish.
I’ve not seen this fish recorded here on Norfolk Island before, which is a bit exciting!
