🐠 Niger Triggerfish (Odonus niger)
A Shimmering Blue-Purple-Green Body • Distinctive Red Teeth • One of the More Peaceful Triggerfish
 
📋 The Niger Triggerfish, also known as the Redtooth Triggerfish, has a deep blue-to-purple body that shifts toward teal-green or near-black with the light and its mood, and a pair of red teeth that give the species its common name.
It lives on outer reef slopes across the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea, and it's unusual among triggerfish: instead of foraging in coral rubble, it's mostly a plankton-picker that forms open-water schools to feed from the current. That schooling nature carries into the aquarium, making it one of the few triggerfish that can be kept in small groups, and one of the more peaceful of the family, though temperament grows with size and maturity.
It isn't reef safe: it will use coral rubble, sponges, and any crustaceans or snails it finds to keep its continuously growing teeth in shape, so it suits a spacious fish-only or FOWLR aquarium. It's typically 23-30cm, so plan on at least 475L, and use a tight lid.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 A Shifting Blue-Purple-Green Body: Colour changes with light and mood
🦷 Distinctive Red Teeth: A unique identifying feature
😌 One of the More Peaceful Triggerfish: Can be kept in small groups
🐟 A Natural Schooler: A plankton-picker that likes company
🪸 Fish-Only or FOWLR: Will target crustaceans, snails, and sponges