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Of the several Triggerfishes (Family Balistidae) employed by aquarists as erstwhile centerpieces; the genus Rhinecanthus members really stand out. Unlike the ever irascible and way too large Clown, Titan, Blunthead… Triggers they don’t get too big or mean; and on the positive traits side, they’re not as shy and reclusive as the popular “reef” Balistids of the genus Xanthichthys.
Distribution/Sources/Size: Indo- Pacific. Red Sea to
Hawaii; even the eastern Atlantic! Not just reef-associated, but on,
above, and in reefs in tropical shallow water a few feet to a couple
hundred foot depths.
Selecting/Stocking/Compatibility: Picking out Humu
Triggers is easy. This species handles collection, shipping and captive
housing with ease. Even quite thin, obviously beaten specimens with
frayed fins generally rally and repair given food and decent care.
System: As alluded to above, this Triggerfish needs
SPACE; you may get away with cramping it into something of a few tens of
gallons when it’s small, but it will suffer for being shoe-horned into
too small a volume in time; psychologically… resulting in anomalous
behavior; and a much shortened, unhappy life. A six foot long, one
hundred fifty gallon system is the smallest I’d figure on for keeping
this fish.
Good brisk water movement, oversized filtration and regular water
changes with gravel-vacuuming are de riguer in keeping systems
containing Triggerfishes. Do provide some cave-like space in your
hard-scape arrangement for your Trigger to get into and lie down during
night time.
Foods/Feeding/Nutrition: This fish, actually all
Triggers, is/are opportunistic omnivores; will consume algae, eggs and
wastes of other animals, invertebrates of all kinds, other fishes. For
aquarium maintenance it should be fed a mix of the above, including
meaty foods daily, and incorporating occasional live or frozen/defrosted
shellfish (crustacean and mollusc) in the shell, to help grind-down the
fish’s ever-growing teeth.
Disease/Health: Triggers are generally tough, but can
get and succumb to the usual environmental insults of poor water
quality, a lack of nutrition, stress and pathogenic diseases. Happily,
these fish are easy to diagnose for all the above; and IF there are
biological agents at play, can withstand exposure to aquarist remedies.
Reproduction: A territorial species that “builds
nests”, known to re-occupy about the same area for years. Both sexes are
ferocious re guarding these spots… against all other fishes, most
invertebrates, and divers! I have scars from many years back from bites
from spawning Balistids. As you might presume, they are NOT bred in
captivity; the space required being thousands, tens of thousands of
gallons.
Cloze: The Hawaiian name for this, humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa
means “water pig with a needle”; refers to its eating habits,
grunt-noise making at times and needle: a reference to the locking
dorsal spines used to anchor the fish into a hole should a predator be
about or currents too strong. Other than a fab Don Ho song; Rhinecanthus
aculeatus can make a delightful centerpiece given a proper setting; fish
only for sure; though I’ve seen the species kept in full-blown reefs. Do
you have a space for such?
A nicely colored juvenile R. aculeatus in the Ari
Atoll, Maldives
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