The clown triggerfish (''Balistoides conspicillum''), also known as the bigspotted triggerfish, is a

demersal The demersal zone is the part of the sea or ocean (or deep lake) consisting of the part of the water column near to (and significantly affected by) the seabed and the benthos. The demersal zone is just above the benthic zone and forms a layer of ...

marine fish Saltwater fish, also called marine fish or sea fish, are fish that live in seawater. Saltwater fish can swim and live alone or in a large group called a school. Saltwater fish are very commonly kept in aquariums for entertainment. Many saltwater f ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Balistidae, or commonly called triggerfish.

Description

The clown triggerfish is a

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

which grows up to 50 cm (19.7 inches).Lieske & Myers,''Coral reef fishes'',Princeton University Press, 2009, Its body has a stocky appearance, oval shape and compressed laterally. The head is large and represents approximately one third of the body length. The mouth is small, terminal and has strong teeth. The first

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

is composed of three spines, one of which is longer and stronger. It is erectile and hidden in a dorsal furrow. This set of dorsal spines composed a trigger system which is a characteristic from the

Balistidae. The second

is similar in shape and size to the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

which is symmetrically opposed to it. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

is reduced to a ventral protrusion. The background coloration is black. Half of inferior part of the body is marked with big white spots which are more or less round. The area around the first

is crossed by yellowish sinuosities which draw like a network reminding the

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

's patterns. There is a yellowish ring around the mouth, which is surrounded by another fin white ring. A white stripe ride the snout just under the eyes level. The second

and the

are white and underlined with a yellow line at their base. The

caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

has a yellowish blotch on its top part and has three horizontal sets of spiny scales. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is yellowish in its center and has black margin. Juveniles have a black background coloration spangled with small white spots, the extremity of the snout and the base of the first

is yellowish.

Distribution and habitat

The clown triggerfish is widely distributed throughout the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

waters of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and in the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. A single record was reported in the Mediterranean Sea in spanish waters in 2012, a likely aquarium release. It is most commonly found along external reef slopes with clear water until 75 m depth. Juveniles are usually staying below 20 m sheltered close to caves or overhangs.

Feeding

''Balistoides conspicillum'' has a varied

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

based on different

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

organisms like

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the sea ...

s and

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

Behaviour

This triggerfish has a diurnal activity, is solitary and defends a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. It can be very aggressive with other

and congeners. The first long dorsal spine when is erected, it is used to impress an opponent or to avoid a

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

to pull it out of its refuge.

In aquariums

Because of its attractive coloration, this fish is one of the most highly prized aquarium fish. Like many other triggerfish, it can require a large aquarium and be aggressive towards other fish. It should not be kept with small fish. It will also prey on invertebrates in the aquarium. This fish can become tame enough to be hand-fed; however, one should beware of the fish's sharp teeth.

References

ITIS - Report: Balistoides conspicillum
Retrieved ai, 30, 2013 from the Integrated Taxonomic Information System on-line database
Integrated Taxonomic Information System
* Bailly, N. (2013). Balistoides conspicillum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801). In: Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2013) FishBase. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species a
WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Balistoides conspicillum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
on 2013-05-30

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q973548 Balistidae Fish of Palau Fish of Thailand Fish described in 1801