Bluethroat Triggerfish

Care at a glance

Overview

This is generally regarded as the calmest, most reef-tolerant triggerfish commonly kept, since it is a natural planktivore rather than a shell-crushing predator, and it gets along with a wider range of tankmates than most of its relatives. It still is not a safe bet around ornamental shrimp, which a larger Bluethroat may eventually pick off, so weigh that risk in an invertebrate-heavy reef. Feed a varied meaty diet of mysis, brine, chopped seafood, and something hard-shelled for its teeth, offered a couple of times a day. It is not venomous and rarely causes trouble, though like other triggers it can rearrange rockwork and will grunt audibly when stressed or excited.

In the wild

Lives well offshore on deep reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific, typically between about 24 and 147 meters, much deeper than most reef fish kept in aquariums. It forms loose groups near the bottom, hovering to pick copepods and other zooplankton out of the current. In the tank it wants open swimming space plus stable rock structure to rest against.

Good to know

Xanthichthys auromarginatus is a triggerfish in the family Balistidae, growing to roughly 23 cm, grayish brown and dotted with pale blue spots with each fin trimmed in yellow. The species is sexually dimorphic: males develop the deep blue chin patch that gives the fish its common name along with yellow-edged fins, while females lack both features and stay comparatively plain. It can be kept as a single male with several females introduced together, an unusual arrangement for a trigger.

Did you know

Males and females look different enough that they were once mistaken for two separate species, since only the male carries the namesake blue throat patch and yellow-trimmed fins.

Related species

• 

  Crosshatch triggerfish

  Xanthichthys mento

  11.8 in (30 cm)106 gal (400 L)70–79°F (21–26°C)

• 

  Niger Triggerfish

  Odonus niger

  11.8 in (30 cm)180 gal (680 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Black durgon

  Melichthys niger

  15.7 in (40 cm)124 gal (470 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Pinktail Triggerfish

  Melichthys vidua

  15.7 in (40 cm)180 gal (680 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Bursa Triggerfish

  Sufflamen bursa

  9.8 in (25 cm)125 gal (473 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Picasso Triggerfish

  Rhinecanthus aculeatus

  11.8 in (30 cm)180 gal (680 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)