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Leatherjacket
Goat Island Marine Reserve: Leatherjacket
Parika scaber, Kokiri or Triggerfish. They have skin like sandpaper, an erectable dorsal spine that they can lock into place, and swim by undulating their dorsal and anal fins in a quite mesmerising ripple. They'll eat pretty much anything, including sponges full of needles of silica. They grow to about 40cm long.

July 2003