While I was scanning the schooling fishes habitat of Wild Reef, a yellow-margin was suddenly front and center, charging another fish. He finally swam back to a hiding spot in a crevice just to the left of the bright green “waterfall” of lettuce coral to guard his space until another fish got too close.

Woe to the predator that tries to haul this or any other triggerfish out of its cave. A dorsal fin -– sometimes visible when the fish is swimming –- locks upright, securing the fish in position. The erect fin is also a disincentive to try to swallow a triggerfish. But accidents happen. During a recent feeding session in the Wild Reef shark habitat, where this and another yellow-margin live, a wobbegong shark was just ready to snatch a fish from an aquarist’s tongs when the trigger figured he’d like some too. The trigger was sucked into the wobbegong’s mouth, which also has an arsenal of razor-sharp teeth, and got stuck sideways in the shark’s mouth. Quick action by an aquarist, who slid a PVC pipe between the shark’s jaws, freed the trigger. Thanks to its big, thick scales, which form a sort of body armor, the trigger was unscathed, and after a little timeout in the medical pool, it was back swimming with the sharks, says George, “and still trying to steal food.”

Finally, you’d think the 400,000-gallon shark habitat would be big enough for three of these scrappy fish. But, says George, “the two big guys couldn’t seem to work it out together,” so one was moved to schooling fishes, where he apparently thinks he’s king of that reef. Starting this Friday, catch the narrated dives in the schooling fishes habitat, every day from 10:30 to 11. You’re sure to seem some triggerfish action.

Posted by Karen Furnweger, web editor