The Red Toothed Triggerfish (Odonus niger) is a tropical open water ocean (saltwater) fish.

The Red Toothed Triggerfish is dark purple-blue with blue-green fins. The fins have a light-blue edge. Its caudal fin (tail fin) is lyre-shaped with a yellow bar between the lobes. Its dorsal fin (back fin) has a retractable spine.

Red Toothed Triggerfish 

It measures up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) in length.

It has small side fins, which makes it maneuverable in the water. It moves like a propeller.

The Red Toothed Triggerfish is native to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It likes open waters where the current takes the water into marine reefs. It prefers rocky coral reefs.

It is seen in groups, feeding on plankton, crabs, and sponges.

Red Toothed Triggerfish

Red Toothed Triggerfish 

Photographer: Martina Nicolls

Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM