Sufflamen albicaudatum
A reef regular across South Sinai and Marsa Alam, comfortable in 25-29°C water and logged on dives all year round.
A small, deep-bodied triggerfish around 15 cm, with a pale grey-brown body that darkens towards a whitish tail base, giving it a two-tone look from a distance. The name comes from a faint blue-throated patch under the chin, best seen when the fish turns side-on in good light. Like other triggerfish it swims with slow, deliberate pumps of its dorsal and anal fins rather than its tail, and can lock an erect dorsal spine when it wants to wedge into a crevice.
Divers typically find it patrolling low over reef flats and rubble patches in shallow water, often alone and going about its business rather than reacting to bubbles. It is usually logged as uncommon rather than abundant, so spotting one feels more like a nice find than a given, though a few sites see it often enough to call it common. Like most triggerfish it will duck into a crevice or gap in the reef if it feels crowded, rather than bolt across open water.
Triggerfish get their name from a locking dorsal spine: the fish raises it and jams itself into a reef crevice, then a second smaller spine behind it acts as the 'trigger' that has to be pressed to release the lock, making it very hard to pull out once wedged in.
No clear seasonal pattern shows in the data, and with a comfortable range of about 24.6 to 29.3 C this is a year-round sighting on Red Sea reefs rather than a fish tied to one month or season.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
This is very much a Red Sea and northern Red Sea fish: most logged in Egypt, especially South Sinai, Marsa Alam and the Deep South, and the Red Sea Riviera, with a reliable presence in Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel. Sightings thin out further afield, with only a handful logged in Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Mapping where Bluethroat Triggerfish is logged…
They are most reliably seen in Egypt's Red Sea, particularly South Sinai, Marsa Alam and the Deep South, and the Red Sea Riviera, with further sightings around Aqaba in Jordan and Eilat in Israel.
There is no strong season in the sighting data. They sit comfortably in 24.6 to 29.3 C water, so they turn up on Red Sea reefs throughout the year rather than at one particular time.
Look for a small, deep-bodied triggerfish around 15 cm with a pale grey-brown body, a darker patch near the tail base, and a subtle blue throat mark visible when it turns towards you. It swims with slow fin-pumping strokes typical of triggerfish rather than fast tail beats.
They are a small triggerfish, typically reaching around 15 cm in length, which is noticeably smaller than reef giants like the Titan Triggerfish.
No, they are not considered dangerous to divers. They tend to hold their ground or retreat into reef crevices rather than approach or challenge divers.
Bluethroat Triggerfish, like other triggerfish, can raise a locking dorsal spine and wedge themselves into a reef crevice, then use a smaller second spine to keep the first one locked in place until they choose to release it.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Flagtail Triggerfish
3,197 sites
