trigger ID

[sydney]

is there any difference between the indian trigger and the black durgeon trigger. I ordered a black durgeon trigger but I think hhe sent me a indian trigger. And when I sent pics of both he told me I had the two mixed up. Can anyone settle this disput. Pics wounld help

[Brian Ward]

I'd have to say these aren't even similar.

 

 

 

Indian Trigger:

 

http://www.pbase.com/clippo/image/77186648

 

 

 

Hawaiian Black (Durgeon) Trigger - body is deep black (much darker than the niger) with white lines around the base of the fins.

 

 

 

These have similar color schemes but the durgeon's body is completely black.

[sydney]

 

 

 

 

 

pic of my fish

[jamesbuf]

That doesn't look like the Hawian Black Trigger to me. It definitely looks like an Indian Trigger.

[davelin315]

I wasn't aware that there was a difference in them. The common nomenclature seems to indicate that they are the same exact fish - Black Durgeon, Black Hawaiian/Hawaiian Black Trigger, Indian Trigger... all Melichthys niger.

[jamesbuf]

I've seen plenty of Black Triggers at Roozens and none of them have the details of the fish he posted. I've also seen Indian triggers there and from what I've seen, they look different to me.

 

Check this out:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...ficial%26sa%3DN

 

 

"Underwater, the Indian triggerfish, Melichthys indicus, Randall & Klausewitz, 1973, looks pitch black, with brilliant white lines at the base of the dorsal and anal fins and round the edge of the caudal fin. If you get up close and the light is good, you may be able to see the longitudinal, bluish green or yellow lines formed by series of small spots on the body. The tail fin is truncate to slightly rounded Occasionally observed in small groups well above the bottom apparently feeding on plankton. It is found in depths of 5-35 m, from the Red Sea to Aliwal Shoal and across the Indian Ocean to Sumatra and western Thailand. Attains 25 cm. The very similar black trigger, Melichthys niger (Bloch, 1786), which also occurs in South African waters, has the rear edge of the tail fin concave or lunate, with no white edge."

[traveller7]

Odonus niger and Melichthys niger are quite different yet are frequently interchanged on wholesale lists. Have a picture of the one you were looking for?

 

Odonus niger

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSum...FTOKEN=32688806

 

Melichthys niger

http://www.fishbase.com/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=966

 

M. indicus is different as posted above.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=7634

 

fwiw: Black Durgeon applies to them all in the wholesale trade.

Edited February 23, 2008 by traveller7

[davelin315]

Odonus niger is very different, I didn't know that they were lumped into the same category.

[traveller7]

Odonus niger is very different, I didn't know that they were lumped into the same category.

Yep, part of the reason I am so demanding of species names or actual collection location when buying from importers/wholesalers. Location is really all you can get, but with most species that is enough.

 

You might have heard, naming conventions for clowns is a disaster :D

[sydney]

Yep, part of the reason I am so demanding of species names or actual collection location when buying from importers/wholesalers. Location is really all you can get, but with most species that is enough.

 

You might have heard, naming conventions for clowns is a disaster :D

 

 

the place I brought him from said he got him from hawaiian divers