This small species of triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi: 20 cms.), with its truly remarkable colour patterns, has the common name of Picasso triggerfish, after the famous artist. It lives on reefs and is usually encountered singly. Normally, it is difficult to approach as it is exceedingly shy. It feeds mainly on tiny crustacea, worms, sea urchins and algae. Like all triggerfish, the male builds a nest. It then loses its shyness while it guards its fertilised eggs with a high level of aggression, which can include attacks on much bigger potential predators. Photographed in the Egyptian Red Sea.

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Size: 2100px × 2333px
Location: Near Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, arabian, assasi, beautiful, coral, corals, creation, diving, egypt, fish, hard, life, marine, natural, nature, patterns, picasso, picassofish, red, reef, rhinecanthus, scuba, sea, selection, trd5143, triggerfish