The Importance of Triggerfish in Coral Reefs Let’s explore their importance in coral reefs and their impact on other species. Triggerfish play a crucial role in the delicate balance of the underwater ecosystem. They construct nests in sandy areas on the ocean floor and guard them against potential threats, including predators that may try to prey on their eggs or young. This camouflage technique helps them avoid detection by predators and increases their chances of survival.įurthermore, triggerfish are known to be highly territorial and will fiercely defend their nests and offspring. These triggers are the modified spines on their dorsal fins, which can be locked into an upright position to prevent predators from swallowing them whole.Īnother fascinating adaptation of triggerfish is their ability to change color and pattern to blend in with their surroundings. The prettiest filefish may be the harlequin filefish, adorned with a superb turquoise and golden robe, which occurs from East Africa to Melanesia.However, triggerfish can use their triggers to their advantage, wedging themselves into crevices and making it difficult for predators to extract them. In the Caribbean, two species are particularly easy to see: the whitespotted filefish and the orangespotted filefish. The most common filefish is the scrawled filefish, with a circumtropical distribution. The Arabian Picasso triggerfish, with its fluorescent-blue rimmed eyes, can exclusively be seen in the Red Sea and only 6 triggerfish species live in the Caribbean Sea. Here, encountered in Lagon de Saint-Pierre, Réunion. The harlequin filefish, generally seen in pairs, is one of the most colorful members of the family. If we had to give an award to the most fanciful scales pattern, it would be to the clown triggerfish with its white circles in contrast to a black body and its bright yellow lips. But it’s not endemic to the archipelago: the reef triggerfish occurs from the Eastern African Coasts to French Polynesia. One of its cousins, the reef triggerfish, has been chosen as a symbol to the Hawaii State, where it is locally known as “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a”. It looks like its white and yellow stripes have been hand-painted onto its faded black body. It can notably be seen in lagoons, even in shallow areas. It is widespread in tropical seas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The most famous triggerfish undoubtedly is the lagoon triggerfish (or Picasso triggerfish). Where do the different triggerfish species live? The titan triggerfish, which can reach 70cm long, is famous for its dreadful bites. Triggerfish are named after the erectile dorsal fin that they draw when threatened, but they are generally inquisitive and don’t hesitate to come close to swimmers.ĭuring mating season, triggerfish can get aggressive while keeping their nests and sometimes bite intruders, some of them being snorkelers. It is easy to spot throughout the archipelago (here, in Napili Bay). The reef triggerfish is the state fish of Hawaii. Some of them appreciate the shallow waters of the lagoons and are easy to see while snorkeling. There are 40 triggerfish and more than 100 filefish species in the world. Their massive diamond-shaped body is easy to identify, and their colorful geometric patterns make some of them emblematic in the tropical seas. Triggerfish and filefish are hard to confuse with other reef fish. Species of these two families have in common a compressed body, an erectile spine above their head, and a very characteristic diamond shape. We have chosen to present here two very close families, the Balistidae (triggerfish) and the Monacanthidae (filefish).
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