Xanthichthys mento

Redtail triggerfish | Blue-throat Trigger | Crosshatch Triggerfish
Xanthichthys mento
Xanthichthys mento, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Photo: Graham Edgar
Xanthichthys mento
Xanthichthys mento, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Photo: Graham Edgar
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Xanthichthys mento
Xanthichthys mento

Distribution

Tropical Eastern Pacific, Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Males yellow with black scale outlines creating a crosshatched pattern, a red tail with a bright blue sub-marginal line and 5 blue stripes on cheek. Females with crosshatch pattern but with blue to slate grey base colour and tail. Found in schools above outer-reefs and drop-offs, or around oceanic islands.


Information

Max Size: 29 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 20.6-29.8°C

Depth: 6-131m

Habitat Generalization Index: 6.86

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Occurrence: Frequent (18.1% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Several (7 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: Joe Shields