Bumphead Parrotfish

Photo: Curtis Hart · CC BY-NC

A school of bumphead parrotfish makes regular early-morning appearances on the outer reef slope of Ant Atoll, arriving in a tight group of 30 to 50 individuals that methodically crop and excavate coral heads with their fused beak teeth. These are the largest parrotfish in the world and their feeding activity generates large quantities of white sand, making them a critical geomorphological force on the reef. Their presence at Ant Atoll, where they have been hunted to local extinction on many neighbouring reefs, is one of the strongest arguments for the atoll's conservation significance.