Triggerfish have an oval shape and they have a compress body configuration. The colours insist of blue, yellow, black and grey. They have detailed designs that often include lines and spots. The colour schemes allow to blend in well with their habitat.
Triggerfish vary in size based on location but they can grow up to 3 feet long. One of the neat elements of their bodies is that their eyes are far back on the head and they can move each of them independent of the other. They have various spiny dorsal fins that are very interesting. When they feel danger around, one of them moves like a trigger (which is where the name comes from).
Many scuba divers are fascinated with triggerfish as they are so colour and display peculiar habits. They can be found on many divers around the world and come in all sizes and colours.
They live in salt water so they are found in oceans around the world. They prefer the tropical and subtropical locations though that provides them with warmer temperatures. Many numbers of them are found in the Indo-Pacific waters. They tend to be close to shallow waters and along coral reefs.
They aggressively protect their surroundings and they will battle with each other frequently within their own school. The survival of the fittest is very dominant with the triggerfish. They tend to live alone, but often hunt for food in the same locations so they are often see as a group.
It is common for snorkelers and/or divers to be bitten by triggerfish because they are very territorial. However, such a bite isn’t going to be extremely painful or life threatening. It isn’t believed that the triggerfish bites people in an effect to consider them as a food source.
When triggerfish feel like they’re in danger, the body will move one of the dorsal fins like a trigger.
The jaws of the triggerfish are very painful and they enable the fish to crush food quickly. They have tiny teeth that are very tough that help them to consume food. They are bottom dwellers, finding crabs, worms and other crustaceans such as molluscs from the bottom of the sea floor. They use there fins to remove the debris in their way.
They also shoot water out of their mouth in an effort to remove sand. Then they can dig below the remains to get to their sources of food. They can consume large amounts of food per day and spend many hours seeking food.
There are many types of triggerfish, such as the Titan and the Picasso, and they tend to inhabit a variety of warm coastal waters, including the waters, including the waters around the island of the Maldives, Thailand and Red Sea. Triggerfish dwell in the bottom of the sea, where they locate their prey and from their nests to protect their offspring, although some kinds of triggerfish live in shallower waters.
Triggerfish often live for around 8-9 years, however have been known to live for 14 years.
Types of Triggerfish
As there are over 40 types of triggerfish, here are the common types of triggerfish to see:
- Clown Triggerfish
- Bluelined Triggerfish
- Niger Triggerfish
- Undulate Triggerfish
- Humu Picasso Triggerfish
- Titan Triggerfish
What to do if a Triggerfish attacks?
If you imagine an upside down cone where the point is the sea floor and the widest part is on the surface, this is the area that triggerfish like to protect.
So the best thing to do is to stay as close to the bottom as possible and swim around the nest keeping well clear. If it does start to attack than keep your fins pointed towards it and keep low. If you start swimming up, they will follow you.
Where to scuba dive with Triggerfish?
Triggerfish can be found in most tropical and sub-tropical countries including:
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