Trigger Fish Identification

[Tom Boyle]

Hi all!

I was looking into getting a reef safe triggerfish for my soft coral tank. I saw that a place online has goldenback triggers, however there is a note saying they are hard to identify when they are juveniles and could be any species of Xanthichthys. They are collected in the Philippians, so it could be a goldenback, linespot, or could just be a juvenile female blue throat. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be?

Thank you!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Doesn't the seller know what's being sold?

 

[Tom Boyle]

Doesn't the seller know what's being sold?

They have a disclaimer that most juvenile Xanthichthys look the same and they cannot guarantee it’s a goldenback. They were collected in the Philippians

 

[JumboShrimp]

Wow, interesting!

 

[cba191]

They have a disclaimer that most juvenile Xanthichthys look the same and they cannot guarantee it’s a goldenback. They were collected in the Philippians

I wouldn't shop there if they can't guarantee what they're sending me.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi all!

I was looking into getting a reef safe triggerfish for my soft coral tank. I saw that a place online has goldenback triggers, however there is a note saying they are hard to identify when they are juveniles and could be any species of Xanthichthys. They are collected in the Philippians, so it could be a goldenback, linespot, or could just be a juvenile female blue throat. Does anyone have any ideas what this could be?

Thank you!

The black dorsal spine and slight red on the caudal fin are intriguing. Have you seen this post?

https://reefbuilders.com/2017/02/22/first-look-at-the-huge-juveniles-of-goldenback-triggerfish/

 

[Tom Boyle]

The black dorsal spine and slight red on the caudal fin are intriguing. Have you seen this post?

https://reefbuilders.com/2017/02/22/first-look-at-the-huge-juveniles-of-goldenback-triggerfish/

I was actually reading that and a couple articles prior to posting! The reef builders article shows the juveniles to be much more blue than the photo I shared. However other websites show them to be more tan (similar to the photo). I am torn lol