Definition of "parrotfish" []

• Any of various brightly colored tropical marine fishes, especially of the family Scaridae, having fused teeth resembling a parrot's beak. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The parrotfish should be the national bird of every atoll nation."
• "Some of the best known bioeroders are large organisms such as parrotfish and sponges, but much of the bioerosion occurs at the microscopic scale by organisms such as algae and fungi."
• "Herbivorous species such as parrotfish, for instance, graze on the weedy turf algae that invade reef surfaces, thus preparing those surfaces for larval recruitment."