Balistidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Osteichthyes
Classis: Actinopterygii
Subclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Ordo: Tetraodontiformes
Familia: Balistidae
Genera: Abalistes - Balistapus - Balistes - Balistoides - Canthidermis - Melichthys - Odonus - Pseudobalistes - Rhinecanthus - Sufflamen - Xanthichthys - Xenobalistes

Reference

Balistidae Report on ITIS

Vernacular names
Internationalization
Deutsch: Drückerfische
English: Triggerfish
Lietuvių: Raguotinės
Nederlands: Trekkervissen
Polski: Rogatnicowate
Português: Peixe-porco
Svenska: Tryckarfiskar
中文: 鱗魨科

Triggerfishes are about 40 species of often brightly colored fishes of the family Balistidae. Often marked by lines and spots, they inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, with the greatest species richness in the Indo-Pacific. Most are found in relatively shallow, coastal habitats, especially at coral reefs, but a few, such as the aptly named oceanic triggerfish (Canthidermis maculata), are pelagic. While several species from this family are popular in the marine aquarium trade, they are often notoriously ill-tempered.[1][2]

Anatomy and appearance
Except for the elongated fins, the queen triggerfish is a typical triggerfish in appearance.

The largest member of the family, the stone triggerfish (Pseudobalistes naufragium) reaches 1 metre (3.3 ft),[3] but most species have a maximum length between 20 and 50 centimetres (7.9 and 20 in).

Triggerfish have an oval shaped, highly compressed body. The head is large, terminating in a small but strong- jawed mouth with teeth adapted for crushing shells. The eyes are small, set far back from the mouth, at the top of the head. The anterior dorsal fin is reduced to a set of three spines. The first spine is stout and by far the longest. All three are normally retracted into a groove. The ventral and the posterior dorsal fins are capable of undulating from side to side to provide slow speed movement. The sickle shaped caudal fin is used only to escape predators.
Masked triggerfish (Sufflamen fraenatum) with its first dorsal spine partially raised.

The two pelvic fins are overlaid by skin for most of their length and fused to form a single spine, terminated by very short rays, their only external evidence. Gill plates operculum too, although present are not visible, overlaid by the tough skin, covered with rough, rhomboid scales, that forms a stout armor on their body. The only gill opening is a vertical slit, directly above the pectoral fins. This peculiar covering of the gill plates is shared with other members of the Tetradontae order. Each jaw contains a row of four teeth on either side, while the upper jaw contains an additional set of six plate-like pharingeal teeth.

As a protection against predators, triggerfish can erect the first two dorsal spines: The first, (anterior) spine is locked in place by erection of the short second spine, and can be unlocked only by depressing the second, “trigger” spine, hence the family name “triggerfish”.

With the exception of a few species from the genus Xanthichthys, the genders of all species in this family are similar in appearance.
[edit] Behavior
The titan triggerfish can move relatively large rocks when feeding and is often followed by smaller fishes, in this case orange-lined triggerfish and moorish idol, that feed on leftovers

The rather bizarre anatomy of the triggerfishes reflects their typical diet of slow-moving, bottom dwelling crustaceans, mollusks, sea urchins and other echinoderms, generally creatures with protective shells and spines. Many will also take small fishes and some, notably the members of the genus Melichthys, feed on algae.[1] A few, for example the redtoothed triggerfish (Odonus niger), mainly feed on plankton.[1] They are known to exhibit a level of intelligence that is unusual among fishes, and have the ability to learn from previous experiences.[2][4]

Some triggerfish species can be quite aggressive when guarding their eggs. Both the picasso (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) and titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) viciously defend their nests against intruders, including scuba divers and snorkelers. Their territory extends in a cone from the nest toward the surface, so swimming upwards can put a diver further into the fishes' territory; a horizontal swim away from the nest site is best when confronted by an angry triggerfish. Unlike the relatively small picasso triggerfish, the titan triggerfish poses a serious threat to inattentive divers due to its large size and powerful teeth.[5]

Triggerfish are notorious bait stealers; rather than swallowing a bait whole, they nibble off small bites of it, making a small, stout hook essential to success in hooking them. Accordingly, the best baits are tough strips of fish skin, squid mantle etc.

Life history
Adult sargassum triggerfish (Xanthichthys ringens) occur at reefs and banks, but juveniles are associated with sargassum.

Triggerfish lay their demersal eggs in a small hole dug in the sea bottom. Off Florida, juveniles of some species of triggerfishes are found in floating sargassum, where they feed on the small shrimp, crabs and molluscs found there.[6]

Edibility

Some species of triggerfish, such as the titan triggerfish, may be ciguatoxic and should be avoided.[1] Others, such as the gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus), are excellent table-fare.

Genera and species

* Abalistes Bloch & Schneider, 1801
o Abalistes stellaris : Starry triggerfish

While most members of this family are considered aggressive, few match the orange-lined triggerfish.[2]

* Balistapus Tilesius, 1820
o Balistapus undulatus : Orange-lined triggerfish or Undulate Trigger
* Balistes Linnaeus, 1758
o Balistes capriscus: Grey triggerfish
o Balistes ellioti
o Balistes polylepis : finescale triggerfish
o Balistes punctatus : Bluespotted triggerfish
o Balistes rotundatus
o Balistes vetula : Queen triggerfish
o Balistes willughbeii
* Balistoides Fraser-Brunner, 1935
o Balistoides conspicillum : Clown triggerfish
o Balistoides viridescens : Titan triggerfish or mustache triggerfish

The redtoothed triggerfish is one of the relatively few planktivores of the family.

* Canthidermis Swainson, 1839
o Canthidermis maculata: Spotted oceanic triggerfish
o Canthidermis macrolepis : Large-scale triggerfish
o Canthidermis sufflamen : Ocean triggerfish
* Melichthys Swainson, 1839
o Melichthys indicus : Indian triggerfish
o Melichthys niger : Black/Hawaiian triggerfish
o Melichthys vidua : Pinktail triggerfish
* Odonus Gistel, 1848
o Odonus niger : Niger triggerfishrarely Redtooth Trigger
* Pseudobalistes Bleeker, 1865
o Pseudobalistes flavomarginatus Yellowmargin triggerfish
o Pseudobalistes fuscus : Blue or rippled triggerfish, blue-and-gold triggerfish or yellowspotted triggerfish
o Pseudobalistes naufragium : Stone triggerfish

The reef triggerfish is the state fish of Hawaii.

* Rhinecanthus Swainson, 1839
o Rhinecanthus abyssus
o Rhinecanthus aculeatus Picasso triggerfish, lagoon triggerfish (USA)
o Rhinecanthus assasi : Arabian Picasso triggerfish
o Rhinecanthus cinereus
o Rhinecanthus lunula : Halfmoon picassofish
o Rhinecanthus rectangulus: Reef triggerfish or Huma Huma or humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua'a (Hawaii)
o Rhinecanthus verrucosus : Blackbelly triggerfish
* Sufflamen Jordan, 1916
o Sufflamen albicaudatum : Flag Tail or Bluethroat triggerfish
o Sufflamen bursa : Bursa or Boomerang triggerfish
o Sufflamen chrysopterum : Halfmoon triggerfish
o Sufflamen fraenatum : Masked triggerfish
o Sufflamen verres : Orangeside triggerfish

The gilded triggerfish is among the few sexually dimorphic members of this family. The female lacks the blue throat and yellow fin-edging.

* Xanthichthys Kaup in Richardson, 1856
o Xanthichthys auromarginatus : Bluethroat Trigger
o Xanthichthys caeruleolineatus : Blue-lined or Goldenback triggerfish
o Xanthichthys lineopunctatus : Striped triggerfish
o Xanthichthys mento : Cross-Hatch triggerfish
o Xanthichthys ringens : Sargassum or Red Tail triggerfish
* Xenobalistes Matsuura, 1981
o Xenobalistes tumidipectoris

References

1. ^ a b c d Lieske, E., & R. Myers (1999). Coral Reef Fishes. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00481-1
2. ^ a b c McDavid, J. (2007). Aquarium Fish: Triggerfish. Advanced Aquarist.
3. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2010). "Pseudobalistes naufragium" in FishBase. 1 2010 version.
4. ^ Debelius, H. (1993). Indian Ocean Tropical Fish Guide. Aquaprint Verlags GmbH. ISBN 3927991015
5. ^ Millington, J. T., & J. E. Randall (1990). Triggerfish bite – a little-known marine hazard. J. Wilderness Medicine 1: 79-85
6. ^ Matsura, Keiichi & Tyler, James C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.

* Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Balistidae" in FishBase. December 2005 version.