Bumphead Parrotfish

Bumphead Parrotfish, Scarus perrico

Bumphead Parrotfish, Scarus perrico, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish caught from coastal waters off Point Palmilla, Baja California Sur, December 2020. Length: 38 cm (15 inches).  Catch and photograph courtesy of Mauricio Correa, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur.

Bumphead Parrotfish, Scarus perrico, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, July 2008. Length: 41 cm (17 inches).

Bumphead Parrotfish, Scarus perrico, Terminal Phase (TP) Male. Fish was fish snag hooked out of the surf at Km 12, Twin Dolphins, Baja California Sur, October 2006. Length: 60 cm (2 feet 0 inches).

Bumphead Parrotfish, Scarus perrico, Terminal Phase (TP), Male. Fish a “wash up” collected off the beach at Palmilla Point, Baja California Sur, January 2010. Length: 64 cm (2 feet 1 inches).

The Bumphead Parrotfish, Scarus perrico, is a member of the Parrotfish or Scaridae Family, and is known in Mexico as loro jorobado. Globally, there are sixty-four species in the genus Scarus, of which ten are found in Mexican waters, six in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Bumphead Parrotfish has a deep compressed body. The adults are bluish green with dark blue fins. They have blue beaks and dark spoke-like lines radiating from their eyes. The forehead of mature individuals features a prominent hump. The juveniles have blue beaks, blue lines radiating from their eyes, and blue edging on their fins; they are tan color with a yellowish caudal fin base and fin. Their anal fin has 3 spines and 9 rays; their caudal fin is blunt; their dorsal fin has 9 spines and 10 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 14 to 16 rays. Their body is covered with large scales.

The Bumphead Parrotfish is found in and around rocky coral reefs at depths up to 30 m (100 feet). They reach a maximum of 80 cm (2 feet 8 inches) in length. They forage during the day, feeding on algae and corals. The Bumphead Parrotfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.y are a rare, poorly studied species and very limited information is available about their behavioral patterns.

In Mexican waters the Bumphead Parrotfish is a resident of the Pacific but has a limited distribution being found from Santa Rosalia, Baja California Sur, southward along the central and southeast coasts of Baja and from Acapulco, Guerrero, southward along the coast of the mainland to Guatemala.

The Bumphead Parrotfish cannot be confused with any other species due to their blue beaks.

From a conservation perspective the Bumphead Parrotfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are considered excellent food fish due to their white meat and are sold commercially in most of the major markets in the greater Los Cabos area. I assume that these commercial fish are caught by fishermen utilizing nets as catching this fish by hook and like is simply not possible.