Protecting the parrotfish Image showing the teeth of a Pacific parrotfish. - The Ocean Agency, Coral Reef Image Bank MARINE ECOLOGIST Dr Anjani Ganase explains the benefits of parrotfish for healthy coral reefs; and urges a ban on parrotfish harvesting. Better yet, we should choose to eat lionfish, and pass on the parrotfish. While coral reefs are major habitat providers to an array of marine organisms, the ability of corals to continue to grow and provide their important functions is governed by a number of physical and biological parameters. Over the last fifty years, when coral reefs have suffered some of the worst degradations, scientists have discovered an important ally in keeping corals on coral reefs, the parrotfish. Parrotfish are common on coral reefs around the world. As herbivores, they spend their days grazing the reef surfaces for algae. A school of parrotfish can clear large tracts of the reef surface of algae. This action is crucial for new coral larvae to settle and grow to form new reef structure and is vital in the recovery of reefs following any disturbance that results in coral mortality and the replacement by fast-growing algae.