Photo of the Day
A close up of the mouth of a parrotfish
July 18, 2011
Parrotfish, Great Barrier Reef
This Month in Photo of the Day: Animal Pictures
The clownish grin of a bridled parrotfish reveals its power tools: grinding teeth used to scrape algae from rock. Though sometimes destructive to individual corals, the fish's efforts are mostly beneficial. Without them, algal growth could smother the reef. Scarus frenatus
See more pictures from the May 2011 feature story "A Fragile Empire".
See more pictures of colorful sea creatures »
See pictures of coral reefs »
Watch a video about the Great Barrier Reef »
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