Melichthys niger
Black Durgon
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Tetraodontiformes (Pufferfishes and Allies)
Balistidae (Triggerfishes)
Melichthys
Melichthys niger (Black Durgon)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Evenly scaled cheeks; scales on posterior section of body ridged and forming keels; deep groove in front of eye below nares; jaw teeth with even biting surfaces, lateral teeth slightly diagonally oriented; 8 teeth in a single row on each jaw; gill opening slitlike, located largely above pectoral fin base; 36 or 37 gill rakers on first arch; head length 31%–33% SL, snout length 22%–23% SL, eye diameter 6%–7% SL, pectoral fin length 8%–12% SL, body depth 54%–58% SL; pectoral fin with 14 or 15 rays; second dorsal fin with 32 to 34 rays; anal fin with 28 to 31 rays; second dorsal and anal fins slightly elevated anteriorly with straight margins; caudal fin double emarginate; 54 to 60 scales in lateral series; enlarged, platelike scales above pectoral fin and behind gill opening forming a flexible tympanum; 18 vertebrae (7 precaudal, 11 caudal)
Black with a greenish sheen; blue lines radiating from eye, along base of dorsal and anal fins, and along caudal fin margin
Distribution
Southern Florida and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles
Recorded from the West Flower Garden Bank off east Texas
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate seas to about 30 m; around islands and over outer reefs
Biology
Calcareous algae and zooplankton
Maximum known size is 500 mm TL
Inhabit clear seaward reefs. More common around oceanic islands (Ref. 9276). Found on inner and outer reef crests, usually near the slope or drop-off to deeper water, where in small but loose aggregations. Sometimes swim high above substrate feeding on zooplankton (Ref. 48637). May also be solitary (Ref. 90102). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Diet consists primarily of calcareous algae and zooplankton (Ref. 1602); also feed on phytoplankton (Ref. 5213). At Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, southeast Atlantic, groups of about 100 individuals join groups of spinner dolphins to feed on feces and vomits of the cetaceans when they congregate in a shallow bay for rest and social interactions. The postures a dolphin adopts prior to defecating or vomiting are recognized, and the fish begin to converge to the dolphin shortly before the actual voiding. Offal feeding may be regarded as a simple behavioral shift from plankton feeding to drifting offal picking (Ref. 48727). Marketed fresh (Ref. 9770). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; mating system: monogamy. Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-06-06. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Berry and Baldwin 1966
Moore 1967
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Randall 1968a, 1996
Randall and Klausewitz 1973
Bright and Cashman 1974
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith and Heemstra 1986a
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Matsuura 2001b, 2002b
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992) Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Matsuura, K. (2001) Balistidae. Triggerfishes. p. 3911-3928. In K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol. 6. Bony fishes part 4 (Labridae to Latimeriidae), estuarine crocodiles. FAO, Rome.
Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann (2012) Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth, Australia: Universitiy of Hawai'i Press, Volumes I-III. Tropical Reef Research.
Matsuura, K. (2015) Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014. Ichthyol. Res. 62(1):72-113. DOI: 10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5
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