Bumphead parrotfish

Photo: Mark Rosenstein · CC BY-NC

The largest parrotfish species and one of the most ecologically important herbivores on Indo-Pacific reefs. Bumphead parrotfish bite directly into living coral skeletons with their fused beak-like teeth, processing the calcium carbonate and excreting it as fine white sand. A school of bumpheads can produce hundreds of kilograms of sand per year and plays a major role in shaping reef structure.