---
title: "European Parrotfish"
description: "Sparisoma cretense — Pesci. The Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense), also known as the European parrotfish, is a species of parrotfish found at depths up to 50 m (160 ft) along rocky shores in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from Portugal south to Senegal."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/european-parrotfish
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# European Parrotfish

> Sparisoma cretense — Pesci. The Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense), also known as the European parrotfish, is a species of parrotfish found at depths up to 50 m (160 ft) along rocky shores in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from Portugal south to Senegal.

- Scientific name: *Sparisoma cretense*
- Category: `fish` (Pesci)
- Habitats: `sea` (Mare e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 4870
- Wikidata: [Q589463](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q589463)
- iNaturalist taxon: [112860](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/112860)

## Names

- en: European Parrotfish
- de: Europäischer Papageifisch
- es: Vieja canaria
- fr: Perroquet méditerranéen
- pl: Sparysoma kreteńska

## Countries with the most observations

ES (1867), GR (1564), PT (423), IT (309), MT (118), TR (112), FR (78), CV (73), HR (67), CY (58), DZ (10), ME (8)

## Summary

The Mediterranean parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense), also known as the European parrotfish, is a species of parrotfish found at depths up to 50 m (160 ft) along rocky shores in the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic, from Portugal south to Senegal. It is generally common, but uncommon or rare (locally even absent) in the northwestern Mediterranean and in the Adriatic Sea. It prefers relatively warm temperatures and there is an ongoing northward range expansion, possibly due to global warming. The primary adult habitat is rocky reefs, especially in areas with macroalgae, but they may visit adjacent seagrass patches…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparisoma_cretense

## Photo

![European Parrotfish](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/european-parrotfish/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jean-Paul Boerekamps · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148844815

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/european-parrotfish?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).