Genus: Nicholsina, Parrotfishes

NICHOLSINA

PARROTFISHES

Body oblong, elongate, robust; front nostril with a cirrus; teeth not fused into a beak, free, with flattened pointed tips, in 2-7 overlapping rows; without canines on side of rear of top jaw; large crushing plates of molar teeth form “pharyngeal mill” in throat; gill membranes with free fold of skin at midline under throat; dorsal fin IX, 10, no notch between spines and rays; anal fin III, 9; scales large, smooth, 1 row of scales on cheek; lateral line in 2 sections.

This tropical genus, with 3 species, is restricted to the eastern Pacific and both sides of the Atlantic; 1 W Atlantic species in our region.