Giant Parrotfish

Photo: Mark Rosenstein · CC BY-NC

Schools of bumphead parrotfish visit Moses Rock during the summer months when their northward range extension reaches Eilat's warmer summer waters, their combined beak-grinding audible underwater as they consume live coral heads. These large parrotfish are ecosystem engineers: each individual processes hundreds of kilograms of coral skeleton annually into fine white sand, producing the sandy bottom substrate that surrounds the pinnacle. Their rarity in the wider Red Sea due to fishing pressure makes summer sightings at protected Eilat a conservation highlight.