Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish - Melichthys niger - Black-Finned - Indian Black Triggerfish

The Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish, also known as the Indian Triggerfish, or Black-Finned Triggerfish, has a brown body and black fins with white lines at the base of the dorsal and anal fins The Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish species appears in Pacific books under various names including M. buniva and M. radula. In the western tropical Atlantic areas it has been discussed under the name of M. piceus. On the face and around the eyes there are thin, light blue-turquoise colored lines on the Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish. Along the base of both the soft dorsal and anal fins there are bold white lines. The body appears to be black in the wild, but once out of water with some light on this fish, you can actually see that its body is of a dark blue to blue-green color with horizontal markings present.

Unlike most other Triggers that live a solitary life on the reef, the Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish is different. Each one has its own house to live in amongst the coral and rock formations just outside the reef, but they will emerge and congregate above near the surface of the water in a large schools to feed on current drifting zooplankton and algaes. However, when you catch this fish and put it in a closed environment with other ones, they will bite and attack each another. In the wild these fish can just run away from each other when aggression arises, but in a closed environment there is no place to go, so they either have to fight back or just take the beating. This is a fish that can be aggressive towards more docile fish and tank inhabitants.

Maximum Size: The Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish grows upto 10 inches in length.

General Size: This fish generally comes in size varying between 4 to 7 inches.

Minimum Tank Size: A 90 gallons or larger aquarium provides good environment for Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish.

Tank Conditions: The Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish should ideally be kept in temperatures between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. A pH value of 8.1 or 8.4, and a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025 should be maintained. When kept with invertebrates, the specific gravity range should be 1.020 to 1.025, for the invertebrate species. In a fish only aquarium, the specific gravity should fall between 1.020 and 1.023.

Habitat: The Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish occurs from Hawaii and central Polynesia westward through Micronesia and Melanasia, through the East Indies, across the Indian Ocean to the coast of Africa, with similar species found in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

Diet and Feeding: The Hawaiian Black Trigger Fish needs a varied diet of meaty foods including; squid, krill, clams, small fish and hard shelled shrimp to help wear down their ever growing teeth.

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