Jul 26, 2008

Dining On Coral

The green humphead parrotfish (Bolpometopon muricatum) is a large beast. It reaches 4 feet in length and can weigh up to 100 lbs. They are found in the Indian and Pacific oceans and are known to be somewhat skittish.

The eat algae and coral. That gnarly beak is what allows them to chomp live corral down into tasty bits. And what is that humphead for? Why, they sometimes ram coral with it to break it up. All the better to eat coral with, my dear.

I might adapting some of that behavior to my own dining experience. Perhaps a head-butted pizza will go down easier.

Here's a video of a school of them. Watch those chompers in action.

Thanks for the photo, Ida.

Photo source: UnderwaterPhotography.com


5 comments:

Denita TwoDragons said...

Get him some braces, STAT!

--TwoDragons

Anonymous said...

Now that's what I call a dorkfish...

Tessa said...

He needs to floss before he needs braces. Eek!

Anonymous said...

Clearly, we have the Mater of the fish world. Check out those buckteeth.

Christina Acker said...

Gah! I think I used to work with that guy!