Leptoscarus

The marbled parrotfish (Leptoscarus vaigiensis), also known as the seagrass parrotfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a parrotfish from the family Scaridae and is the only known member of the genus Leptoscarus. It has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution and is also found in the southeastern Atlantic Ocean. It is a coastal species found in beds of sea grass and seaweed.

The marbled parrotfish has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from the northern Red Sea south along the eastern coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope and eastwards through the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean to Easter Island. In the Pacific Ocean its range extends north to Japan and south to Rottnest Island off Western Australia and the Poor Knights Islands of New Zealand. In the southeastern Atlantic this species is found in False Bay in the Western Cape, South Africa. Its distribution is largely anti-equatorial (i.e., found in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres, but rare or absent near the Equator).

The marbled parrotfish lives in sheltered bays, harbours and lagoons among seagrass beds and algal-covered reefs. It normally occurs in small groups. It ranges in depth from 0–15 metres (0–49 ft). Uniquely among parrotfish, females never change sex to males; they are gonochoristic. Spawning occurs in shallow water over flat seagrass beds on the ebbing tide. As well as being gonochoristic, marbled parrotfish also show less sexual dimorphism than most other parrotfishes. Their diet consists of sea grass and algae. The larvae of the marbled parrotfish are associated with drifting algae.