X-ray Vision: Wedge-tail Triggerfish

Credit: radiograph and fish photograph by Sandra J. Raredon, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
February 21, 2012
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Credit: radiograph and fish photograph by Sandra J. Raredon, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
Triggerfish discourage predators by erecting two sharp dorsal spines: a large, thick one and a shorter spine behind it. The second spine is the “trigger”; it locks the first one in place.