Male Blue Throat Triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus)As I alluded in an earlier post about the Niger triggerfish (Odonus niger), triggers in general aren’t usually among the first species that come to mind when one is seeking an aquarium specimen with a peaceful disposition. Certainly as far as reef-friendliness is concerned, most of us would probably put triggers as a group somewhere pretty close to the bottom of the list of suitable fishes. While that viewpoint may be justified in many cases, some triggers are relatively inoffensive toward sessile invertebrates and actually make decent candidates for suitably sized reef systems. Among these is Xanthichthys auromarginatus, the bluechin trigger (a.k.a. the blue-throat trigger or gilded trigger) from the Indo-Pacific. Physical traits Typical of triggerfishes, X. auromarginatus is highly laterally compressed (flattened from side to side). This species exhibits sexually dichromatism, meaning there are distinct color differences between the genders. Both sexes are light brown to gray in overall coloration with a myriad of tiny light-blue dots lining their flanks. The males are easy to distinguish from the females by the presence of a distinct blue patch on the chin and the bright yellow margins of their dorsal, anal, and caudal fins. More: X. auromarginatus: A Well-Mannered, Reef-Friendly Triggerfish… More:
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