Common names: durgon (English), triggerfish (English), calafate (Espanol), chancho (Espanol), cochito (Espanol), pejepuerco (Espanol)
Melichthys niger (Bloch, 1786)
Black durgon, Black triggerfish
Body an elongate oval, robust, compressed; cheeks without longitudinal grooves; distinct groove before eye and below nostril; mouth small, opens a little above center line, with powerful jaws made up of 8 heavy, outer teeth on the upper and lower jaws, teeth uneven in size, not notched; gill opening a short slit on side before pectoral base; III dorsal spines, 1st can be locked erect, 2nd > ½ the size of 1st; dorsal rays III + 30-35; anal rays 28-31; pectoral rays 15- 17; anterior rays of second dorsal and anal fins moderately elevated, much longer than posterior rays; most rays of dorsal, anal and pectoral fins branched; lateral ridges on rear of body and tail base formed by scales with low ridges; caudal fin moderately to strongly concave; pelvic fins externally reduced to 4 pairs of large scales encasing end of pelvis; thick leathery skin, with regularly arranged diagonal scale plates; snout completely scaled; a patch of enlarged scales immediately behind gill opening; lateral line inconspicuous.
Blackish body and fins, with a pale blue line along the base of the dorsal and anal fins; head may have slight yellowish hue; thin blue lines radiating dorsally and anteriorly from eye.
Size: reaches 50 cm.
Inhabits rocky reefs and coral areas.
Depth: 0-75 m.
Circumglobal in tropical seas; southern California to the SW Gulf of California, Costa Rica and Panama, Gorgona Island (Colombia) and all the oceanic islands.
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