Parrotfish Are Essential to the Health of Coral Reefs

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If it weren't for parrotfish, many tropical beaches would not be there. Much of that fine white sand you see is coral that parrotfish have chewed and passed. These industrious fish spend their lives eating the algae and polyps that live on coral reefs by nibbling the exoskeleton. Parrotfish teeth comprise some of the hardest natural biominerals ever to exist.

The tensile strength (the maximum load that a material can support without fracturing) of a single tooth's surface can withstand 530 tons of pressure per square inch. That's equivalent to the weight of 88 elephants compressed into a single square inch....

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