titan triggerfish

With an estimated adult size of over 75 centimeters, it is the third largest triggerfish in the world, after the titan triggerfish Pseudobalistes naufragium and the grey triggerfish Balistes polylepis.

The body of adults is generally tricolored with yellow and brown scales that stand out on the lateral sides. The lips are clearly visible, surrounded on top by a black band, and a pinkish light band on the bottom. The area around the head is white. The eyes appear to be made up: they are surrounded by a kind of white eyelid with black slanted lines.

Similar to its relative, there is a lighter area covered with curved scales at the caudal peduncle. The second dorsal fin and the caudal fin are symmetrical and finished with elongated spots of the same shape. A large orange-yellow band is present at the caudal level, just before a thinner black band and a yellow border.

The body is oval and deep, the profile is convex, and the interorbital is straight. The lips are thick and cylindrical. The teeth are conical, and the front teeth of the lower jaw have a pointed tip.

As adults, this massive and tough fish lives in pairs or solitarily near the slopes of deep lagoons or in offshore reefs. Very territorial, this fish tolerates no intrusions near its nest during the breeding season. Females are very aggressive towards other territorial species but also towards any intruder passing by, regardless of size.

Outside of the breeding season, these fish are sometimes fleeting observed traversing the reefs. They are exclusively carnivorous, feeding on sea urchins, corals, crabs, mollusks, or tube worms.

The titan triggerfish is an oviparous fish that spawns in pairs on exposed substrate. The nest is then guarded until the hatching of the larvae, which are pelagic. Few precise information seems to be available on the reproduction of this species.