Spinytooth parrotfish
Calotomus spinidens
- Usual depth1–18 m
- Water temperature20–30 °C
- Best monthsMay and August
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
About this species
Calotomus spinidens, the spinytooth parrotfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish, in the family Scaridae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific from East Africa to Tonga and the Marshall Islands where it is found in seagrass and weaweedbeds located in coastal bays or deep lagoons. The species is diandric which includes primary males and larger more aggressive secondary males, with smaller primary males sometimes participating in spawning by interfering with pair spawnings of the larger secondary males.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Calotomus spinidens”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 17 records
- February: 15 records
- March: 16 records
- April: 15 records
- May: 30 records
- June: 10 records
- July: 8 records
- August: 22 records
- September: 11 records
- October: 15 records
- November: 8 records
- December: 7 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 1–18 m · Deepest record: 72 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C
Photos
(c) Rohan Arthur, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Spinytooth parrotfish, halftoothed parrotfish, Half-toothed Parrot-fish, Raggedtooth Parrotfish, spinytooth parrotfish
Names in 5 more languages
- Spanish
- Loro Dentón
- Filipino
- Isdang loro, Luro, Lutiin
- French
- Kakatoi, Perroquet dentu
- Japanese
- Chibibudai, Taiwan-budai, チビブダイ
- Simplified Chinese
- 凹尾絢鸚嘴魚, 臺灣鸚鯉, 菜仔魚(雌), 蠔魚, 鸚哥
Other scientific names: Calatomus spinidens, Callyodon hypselosoma, Callyodon moluccensis, Callyodon spinidens, Callyodon waigiensis, Calotomus spindens, Calotomus spinidence, Cryptotomus spinidens, Leptoscarus moluccensis, Scarus spinidens
Similar species
Carolines parrotfishCalotomus carolinus
Blue GroperAchoerodus gouldii
Blue GroperAchoerodus viridis
Tripletail wrasseCheilinus trilobatus
Blunt-head ParrotfishChlorurus microrhinos
bullethead parrotfishChlorurus sordidus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 665 open-data records from 1824 to 2023.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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