My new black durgeon...

[Putty]

Picked him up today...nice addition I think.

 

[Sonicblast12]

As far as "black durgeons" go...looks like you got a Melichthys indicus (Indian Trigger) instead of Melichthys niger (Hawaiian Black/Black Durgeon).

Good looking fish, how big is it?

 

[Putty]

Are you saying I was mislead...lol? He's about 3". So far he's spending a lot of time trying to fit in holes of my rocks...I'm sure he's going to make one tumble down. I will have to rearrange.

 

[Sonicblast12]

Probably not intentionally. They are pretty much shipped interchangeably, I've seen both called a black durgeon but they are different fish.

Indian trigger doesn't get nearly as large.

Get a flashlight and find the fish at night, the color change is remarkable.

 

[Putty]

Well, that's good...I don't want a fast growing, large fish. I'm happy with it, so either of the names, I'm good. Thanks for the info.

Will find him tonight to check the change out.

 

[kirkaz]

Definitely Indian Trigger, you can tell by the white around the tail which the Black Durgeon does not have. As Sonic said, Indian stays quite a bit smaller, about half the size. Not sure why so many places sell them interchangeably, pretty easy to tell the difference.

You have a beauty there though, I like the dark coloration it has thus far.

Love your Mimic/Chocolate Tang too! One of my favorite Tangs Great Coloration it has as well.

 

[deepblue68]

beautiful trigger! good luck with it.

 

[jhentr]

Nice trigger. I somehow prefer the Indian to the black durgeon because of the white stripes.

 

[Putty]

Thanks! I considered taking him back because he's so dark. My approach was to have really colorful fish. I sat and watched his behavior lastnight and decides to hold on to him. That plus I didn't want to pull all my rock out to catch him.
Yes he looked dark in the store, but there were no rocks and things just a bright blue background. Against my rock and black background, he's nearly invisible...lol.

 

[LisaD]

I like M indicus trigger better than M niger - as someone else posted, they don't get as big. As far as color, they have more contrast, IMO, than M niger. If you were looking for a colorful fish, neither fish really has it. Maybe consider a pinktail trigger as well? Some of them are pretty colorful.

Give the fish a little time. I had one, and the colors were very nice, if subtle.

Speaking of colorful fish (and compatible with many) do you have or have you considered an Australian harlequin tusk?