Parrotfish or wrasse?
How to tell them apart
Parrotfish are now classed inside the wrasse family; their teeth are fused into a parrot-like beak for scraping algae.
Quick answers
They differ on 1 of the 8 quick answers: carnivore.
| Question | Parrotfish | Wrasse |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | Fish | Fish |
| Carnivore? differs | No, herbivore | Yes |
| Dangerous? | No | No |
| Domesticated? | No | No |
| Awake when? | Daytime | Daytime |
| Hibernates? | No | No |
| Kept as a pet? | No | No |
| Do people eat it? | In places | In places |
At a glance
| Question | Parrotfish | Wrasse |
|---|---|---|
| Found in | Oceans | Oceans |
| Habitat | Coast | Coast |
| Size differs | Medium | Small |
| Length differs | Mostly 30–50 cm; green humphead up to 1.3 m | Mostly under 20 cm; humphead wrasse up to 2.5 m |
| Legs | None | None |
| Covered in | Scales | Scales |
| Lives | In groups | In groups |
| Lives for differs | 5–20 years | 3–30 years |
| Can fly | No | No |
| Swims | Yes | Yes |
| Lays eggs | Yes | Yes |
About each
Parrotfish
About 95 species of brightly coloured reef fish whose teeth are fused into a parrot-like beak, most diverse in the Indo-Pacific. They scrape algae from coral and rock, grind it up and excrete the rest as sand. Most start life as females and later change into males.
Everything on the parrotfish page
Wrasse
Over 600 species of often brightly coloured sea fish with thick lips. Most are under 20 cm long, though the humphead wrasse reaches 2.5 m. They eat small invertebrates, and many start life as females and change into males as they grow.
Sources
Last reviewed . The answers and notes come from each animal's own page, where every source is listed.
How each answer is decided: How we answer. More look-alikes: Side by side.