Terminal males are green with a yellow spot behind the gill and a yellow crescent on the tail; females are red-brown with a red belly. The single largest producer of sand on a Caribbean reef.
To 64 cm, commonly 38. The two phases look like different species and this is the classic case. Initial-phase fish have a brown head; the scales over the upper two-thirds of the body have pale centres and dark brown edges, giving a chequered look, and the lower third of the body and the fins are bright red. Divers routinely log these as something else. Terminal-phase males are brilliant emerald green with three diagonal orange bands across the upper head, a bright yellow spot at the top corner of the gill cover, and a bright yellow crescent at the base of the tail. The yellow crescent is the stoplight and is the best single mark.
The queen parrotfish is the terminal-phase confusion and has neither the yellow crescent nor the yellow gill-cover spot.
It is one of the most important eroders and sand producers on Caribbean reefs: it scrapes and excavates dead coral and passes the carbonate out as sand. Terminal-phase males are territorial and hold harems. It lives between 3 and 50 m.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.