Longnose Parrotfish, Hipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes 1840)

Other Names: Long-nosed Parrotfish, Pacific Longnose Parrotfish, Red-stripe Parrotfish

A male (terminal phase) Longnose Parrotfish, Hipposcarus longiceps, at Koror Island, Palau. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:

A large parrotfish with a distinctly elongate head. Males (terminal phase) are pale bluish and green, with orange scale margins and an orange upper lip. Females (initial phase) are pale brown to pale grey with a yellowish tail. Small juveniles are whitish to pale brownish with a broad orange stripe ending in a black spot on the tail base.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2020, Hipposcarus longiceps in Fishes of Australia, accessed 18 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/397

Longnose Parrotfish, Hipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes 1840)

More Info

Distribution	Ningaloo Reef to Delambre Island and offshore reefs of north Western Australia, to Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the entire Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the east-Indo-west Pacific: Cocos-(Keeling) Islands and East Indian Region to Micronesia, Line Islands, Tuamotu Archipelago, Australia to Ryukyu Islands. Inhabits sandy and rubble areas around shallow lagoon reefs, and also on seaward reef flats in 2-40 m - usually in groups.
Biology	Fished in many parts of its range.
Etymology	The specific name longiceps is from the Latin longus (= long) + -ceps (= headed), in reference to the long snout of this species.
Species Citation	Scarus longiceps Valenciennes, 1840, Hist. Nat. Poiss. 14: 241. Type locality: Waigeo (as Waigiou), Indonesia.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Longnose Parrotfish, Hipposcarus longiceps (Valenciennes 1840)

References

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Valenciennes, A. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1840. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 14 464 pp. pls 389-420.

Wainwright, P.C., D.R. Bellwood, M.W. Westneat, J.R. Grubich & A.S. Hoey. 2004. A functional morphospace for the skull of labrid fishes: patterns of diversity in a complex biomechanical system. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82: 1-25.