Bumphead Parrotfish

Photo: Tsu Soo Tan · CC BY-NC

Bumphead parrotfish at Chebeh are the reef's most powerful bioeroders, ramming coral heads with their calcified foreheads and consuming the resulting rubble to extract algae and coral polyps. A single large individual can produce hundreds of kilograms of white sand per year, directly shaping the sandy lagoon floor beneath the reef. Their visits to Chebeh are most reliable in early morning when schools of up to 30 individuals move in from deeper water to feed.