Blue triggerfish bite

[scubadada]

Yep, and aren't Sergeant majors the most aggressive?

Not in my experience. The Sergeant Majors frequently burst out from the egg clusters they are guarding, but rarely take a nip. The dark colored Damselfish (mostly Longfin?) will often take nips while guarding their algae garden on the reef.

 

[ggunn]

In a related story...

When our daughter was about 10 years old my wife and I decided it would make a cute photo if we could get a shot of her hand feeding some fish. We went to Chankanaab and went in the water with her, and she had a plastic baggie with a couple of slices of ham in her life jacket. We told her that we would set up the shot and then she would take out the baggie and see if she could coax a fish close enough to take some ham from her hand.

There were two things we hadn't considered. One is that in the water the clear plastic bag would be invisible; the ham would seem like it was just loose in the water. The other was that the hundreds of gray tangs that hang out at Chankanaab are used to being fed and they are very competitive about it. Within 1-2 seconds of her pulling out the bag our daughter was completely engulfed in a cloud of aggressive tangs going after the ham.

We were too stunned to even take the picture, and it's a wonder our daughter ever trusted us again.

 

[deeper thoughts]

I get nipped frequently by Damselfish, often unexpectedly, while taking a photo near the reef. Mostly, it's the surprise

The only real bites I've gotten are from Gray Triggerfish

The 3 grey triggers that were at the feeding site here in Tavernier are no longer there(thnx)

 

[Joneill]

Not in my experience. The Sergeant Majors frequently burst out from the egg clusters they are guarding, but rarely take a nip. The dark colored Damselfish (mostly Longfin?) will often take nips while guarding their algae garden on the reef.

I enjoy watching the little damselfish chasing away far larger fish. It's a funny dynamic to watch - I've even seen them "attack" barracuda and have gotten nipped a few times myself (even had them peck at my mask). They go particularly crazy when a school of tangs passes and eats their algae patches - you feel bad for the little guys as they are frantically trying to fend them off - but it's hopeless.

 

[Snoweman]

Is it the triggerfish that will lead divers to lionfish?

 

[Centrals]

Is it the triggerfish that will lead divers to lionfish?

What made you said that?
Lionfish is NOT a problem in SE Asia.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Where were you? I know that queen triggerfish in SE Asia that are nesting are very dangerous.

Even when nesting they always let me take photos and video of them. Titans are nice fish. Beautiful when their trigger is up.

 

[Snoweman]

What made you said that?
Lionfish is NOT a problem in SE Asia.

This is a Cozumel forum, not SE Asia. Why are you confusing the two??

 

[mjmason1]

This s a riot. I was just bit by a gray trigger this week! Never heard of it before, now I find this post. The picture is just before the bite.

 

[tarponchik]

Oh, they are really. I used to like to sell the juveniles in an aquarium shop I had decades ago because they were lively, attractive, intelligent for a fish, and resistant to the nitrogen cycle run-in for a new setup before nitrifying bacteria were established. They're not known to be aggressive in tanks or the wild, considered planktivorous eaters, also known to eat krill, clams, squid, urchins, and small fish, but not ferocious killers. It's wrong to release them in coastal waters when they get big, but surely happens.

One time early in my diving days I took a ziplock of cat food with me to Belize and opened it to see what fish I could attract. Dumb thing I did once. I was amazed at how many triggers suddenly surrounded me. Should have used frozen spinach, but I never repeated.

I used to feed Black Triggerfish with bread for a good photo, never had any problems with them.