What is on this bluethroat trigger face?

[DerekC]

He was fine this morning. Then suddenly this shows up:

Stung by the Brittle starfish? I knew they were fighting for the piece of silverside I dropped in this morning.
Thanks.

 

[sfin52]

Brittles starfish don’t sting. I don’t think it was the brittle

 

[Maritimer]

He sure does look out-of-sorts ... #reefsquad, have you guys ever seen this?

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

I’ve never seen anything like that...

Any anemones in the tank?

 

[reefaland310]

My Hawaiian black trigger would get that. It would disappear by morning. Happened a few times when first introduced.

 

[MSB123]

Ive kept a few bluethroats, - ive seen thatonce before when my carpet anenome got him- i managed to pull him out in time

 

[MSB123]

That once*

 

[DerekC]

There are no anemone in the tank. Could a coral have done this?

 

[HB AL]

Looks like something caused it to lose its skin pigment, if it happened quickly then maybe something stung him. I've never seen that on a trigger. Hopefully it goes back to normal.

 

[Maritimer]

Could a coral have done this?

Not unlikely ... we often see similar marks (though darker, on a light background, called "hypermelanization") pretty commonly on clownfish that attempt to guest in, for example, frogspawns or hammers.

~Bruce

 

[DerekC]

Ok. I wrote to Bob Fenner (wetwebmedia.com and author of Triggerfishes for Marine Aquariums) and he thought it was "burn" by bristleworms. I have a lot of those and this blue throat is new to the tank (2 - 3 days). I guess it has learned a lesson. This morning the burn seems to fade away.
Thank you guys.