parrotfish
noun
par·rot·fish
ˈper-ət-ˌfish 
ˈpa-rət-
variants
or parrot fish
: any of a family (Scaridae) of usually brightly colored chiefly tropical marine fishes that have the teeth in each jaw fused into a cutting plate resembling a beak
Examples of parrotfish in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Highlights of the current menu include tuna belly with ponzu, smoked fish broth, and parrotfish, fennel and miso.
—
Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
There's beach access, but Red Reef also has six artificial reefs for snorkeling that attract parrotfish, spottail pinfish, and molly millers.
—Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 11 Feb. 2025
Her delicate yet vivid watercolors of marine life—tarpon, parrotfish, turtles, pelicans, herons—capture the essence of the Keys.
—Charlene Fang, AFAR Media, 14 Jan. 2025
And to sleep, some parrotfish engulf themselves in a mucus cocoon.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 5 Nov. 2024
Some of the world’s beaches are largely made of parrotfish poop.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 8 Oct. 2024
Coral reefs face a similar fate: parrotfish, which play a crucial role in controlling algae growth, have seen their populations plummet on the Mesoamerican Reef due to overfishing.
—Rebecca Shaw, TIME, 9 Oct. 2024
Against these mounting threats, parrotfish can do very little.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 8 Oct. 2024
When moving through a crowd of darting and preening Italians, her presence is anomalous — a sea anemone amid parrotfish.
—Molly Young, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024
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Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
There's beach access, but Red Reef also has six artificial reefs for snorkeling that attract parrotfish, spottail pinfish, and molly millers.
—Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 11 Feb. 2025
Her delicate yet vivid watercolors of marine life—tarpon, parrotfish, turtles, pelicans, herons—capture the essence of the Keys.
—Charlene Fang, AFAR Media, 14 Jan. 2025
And to sleep, some parrotfish engulf themselves in a mucus cocoon.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 5 Nov. 2024
Some of the world’s beaches are largely made of parrotfish poop.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 8 Oct. 2024
Coral reefs face a similar fate: parrotfish, which play a crucial role in controlling algae growth, have seen their populations plummet on the Mesoamerican Reef due to overfishing.
—Rebecca Shaw, TIME, 9 Oct. 2024
Against these mounting threats, parrotfish can do very little.
—Benji Jones, Vox, 8 Oct. 2024
When moving through a crowd of darting and preening Italians, her presence is anomalous — a sea anemone amid parrotfish.
—Molly Young, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Parrotfish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parrotfish. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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