Found in tropical waters from the Caribbean to the Great Barrier Reef, the parrotfish doesn’t just brighten coral reefs—it helps build beaches. As it grazes on algae, it grinds coral rock with its beak-like teeth, digesting the algae and excreting the rest as fine white sand. 

One parrotfish can produce up to 700 pounds of sand a year. That powdery beach beneath your feet? It may have passed through a parrotfish first.