Scaridae

Parrotfish are a clade of fish placed in the subfamily Scarinae of the wrasse family (Labridae). Historically considered as the family Scaridae, genetic studies found them to be deeply nested within the wrasses, and they are now treated as a subfamily. With roughly 95 species, the group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are herbivores or corallivores inhabiting coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a significant role in bioerosion as some species eat away at the corals. This activity often contributes to enriching the sand content on the surrounding ocean floor.

Scaridae

Uncredited · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
LabriformesPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 48 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 0 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 48 occurrencesEocene — about 1 of 48 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 48 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 11 of 48 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 48 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 48 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 1 occurrence11–9.5 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 35 occurrences48.07 Mya11.7 ka57 Mya0 Mya

48 occurrences of Scaridae on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

48 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

4 formations

Lagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.28°WLagos-Portimão — 37.12°N, 8.54°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.67°WRío Banano — 9.92°N, 83.55°WJaffna Limestone — 8.26°N, 79.84°EMala beds — 8.57°N, 81.25°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Scaridae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 40 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

399 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 21 sites for Scaridae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

13 references

Each of the 48 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 1 further reference is not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Scaridae

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Scaridae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itLabriformes through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.