Xanthichthys mento

Common Name: Red-tailed Trigger
Red-tailed Trigger
More
Photos
Common Names:
  • `o`iri (Rapan)
  • Baliste à queue rouge (French)
  • Blue-throat trigger (English)
  • Blue-cheekline triggerfish (English)
  • Buubul nipom (Woleaian)
  • Crosshatch triggerfish (English)
  • Pez puerco (Spanish)
  • Redtail triggerfish (English)
Scientific Synonyms:
  • Xanthichthys mento (Jordan & Gilbert 1882)
  • Xanthichthys gotonis
  • Xanthichthys purus
  • Xanthichthys surcatus 

Distribution : The tropical Eastern and Western Pacific, Oceania. Occurs around small isolated subtropical oceanic islands.

Size : Grows to about 30 cm in length.

Description: The torpedo shaped body is densely covered with greenish-yellow scales, leaving a thin tracery of dark-brown, black or dark-blue cross-hatching. The terminal mouth features a protuberant lower jaw, and five clear blue lines radiate upwards across the cheeks from the mouth towards the eyes and pectoral fins. The second dorsal and anal fins are transluscent with a fringe of yellow. The caudal fin is reddish, with pale white margins.

Diet : Feeds on zooplankton, particularly copepods, and crustacea, echiniderms and molluscs.

Comments :