Sparisoma

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Perciformes
Subordo: Labroidei

Familia: Scaridae
Genus: Sparisoma
Species: S. amplum – S. atomarium – S. aurofrenatum – S. axillare – S. choati – S. chrysopterum – S. cretense – S. frondosum – S. griseorubrum – S. radians – S. rocha – S. rubripinne – S. strigatum – S. tuiupiranga – S. viride
Name

Sparisoma Swainson, 1839 [placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology by ICZN (2000: 58)] [source: ICZN (2000: 58)]
Gender: neuter [source: ICZN (2000: 58)]
Type species: Scarus chrysopterus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, by designation under the plenary power by ICZN (2000: 58) [source: ICZN (2000: 58)]

References
cited sources

ICZN 2000: OPINION 1945. Scarus chrysopterus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (currently Sparisoma chrysopterum; Osteichthyes, Perciformes): specific name conserved and designated as the type species of Sparisoma Swainson, 1839. Bulletin of zoological nomenclature, 57: 58–59. ISSN: 0007-5167 Internet Archive BHL BioStor

Additional references

Pinheiro, H.T.; Gasparini, J.L.; Sazima, I. 2010: Sparisoma rocha, a new species of parrotfish (Actinopterygii: Labridae) from Trindade Island, South-western Atlantic. Zootaxa, 2493: 59–65. Preview PDF
Swainson, W. 1839: The natural history and classification of fishes, amphibians, & reptiles, or monocardian animals. Spottiswoode & Co., London. 2: i-vi + 1-448.
Streelman, J.T., M. Alfaro, M.W. Westneat, D.R. Bellwood, & S.A. Karl 2002: Evolutionary history of the parrotfishes: biogeography, ecomorphology, and comparative diversity. Ecology, 56 (5): 961–971. PDF

Vernacular names
English: Parrotfishes

Sparisoma is a genus of parrotfishes native to warmer parts of the Atlantic. FishBase recognizes 15 species in this genus,[4] including S. rocha described from Trindade Island in 2010[5] and S. choati described from the East Atlantic in 2012.[6] They are the most important grazers of algae in the Caribbean Sea, especially since sea urchins, especially Diadema, the other prominent consumers of algae, have been reduced in many places by a recent epidemic.

The name was proposed by William John Swainson as a subgenus of Scarus. Sparus in Latin is a golden-headed fish, and soma means "body". The common spelling Sparisomus is incorrect.

The size of parrotfishes of this genus range from the rather small-sized S. radians with a known maximum length of 20 cm (7.9 in) to the large S. viride, which reaches lengths of up to 64 cm (25 in).

Members of this genus are sequential hermaphrodites, starting as females (known as the initial phase) and then changing to males (the terminal phase). However, some males are direct-developing, and these usually resemble the initial phase. These direct-developing and terminal phase males often display different mating strategies. In most species, the terminal phase is more colourful than the initial, but a notable exception to this rule is S. cretense. They use their pectoral fins to move; the caudal fin is reserved for rapid bursts of speed.

The genus Sparisoma is fairly successful, but populations have been falling somewhat because of overfishing and other human activities. However, as mentioned above, it is the main grazer of algae, but since populations have been falling, the coral reefs may be at risk, because too much algae is deleterious to coral.
Species

Sparisoma amplum (Ranzani, 1842) (Reef parrotfish)
Sparisoma atomarium (Poey, 1861) (Greenblotch parrotfish)
Sparisoma aurofrenatum (Valenciennes, 1840) (Redband parrotfish)
Sparisoma axillare (Steindachner, 1878) (Gray parrotfish)
Sparisoma choati Rocha, Brito & D. R. Robertson, 2012 (West-African parrotfish)
Sparisoma chrysopterum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) (Redtail parrotfish)
Sparisoma cretense (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mediterranean parrotfish)
Sparisoma frondosum (Agassiz, 1831) (Agassiz's parrotfish)
Sparisoma griseorubrum Cervigón, 1982 (Caribbean reef parrotfish)
Sparisoma radians (Valenciennes, 1840) (Bucktooth parrotfish)
Sparisoma rocha Pinheiro, Gasparini & Sazima, 2010 (Rocha's parrotfish)
Sparisoma rubripinne (Valenciennes, 1840) (Redfin parrotfish)
Sparisoma strigatum (Günther, 1862) (Strigate parrotfish)
Sparisoma tuiupiranga Gasparini, Joyeux & Floeter, 2003 (Brazilian red parrotfish)
Sparisoma viride (Bonnaterre, 1788) (Stoplight parrotfish)

Type species

William John Swainson described the genus Sparisoma in 1839 and he designated Sparus abildgaardi as its type species,[2] Although the specific name abildgaardi would appear to have precedence over chrysopterum, the latter is the more widely used name and the former was long mistakenly thought to be synonymous with Sparisoma viride.[7] The name Sparus abildgaardi was suppressed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and Scarus chrysopterus was recognised as the type species.[8]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sparisoma.

Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Sparisoma". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Scaridae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2012). Species of Sparisoma in FishBase. February 2012 version.
Pinheiro, H. T., J. L. Gasparini & I. Sazima (2010). Sparisoma rocha, a new species of parrotfish (Actinopterygii: Labridae) from Trindade Island, South-western Atlantic. Zootaxa 2493: 59–65.
Rocha, Brito, and Robertson (2012). Sparisoma choati, a new species of Parrotfish (Labirdae: Scarinae) from the tropical eastern Atlantic. Zootaxa, 3152: 61-67.
Parenti, P.; J. E. Randall (2000). "An annotated checklist of the species of the Labroid fish families Labridae and Scaridae" (PDF). Ichthyological Bulletin of the J. L. B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology (68): 1–97. S2CID 82180282. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-11.
J.D.D. Smith (2001). Official Lists and Indexes of Names and Works in Zoology Supplement 1986-2000. The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. ISBN 0853010072.