Some fishes are more eye-catching than others, and today’s species will probably get your attention. 👀✨ The clown triggerfish, 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 (Bloch & Schneider, 1801), is a famous member of the triggerfish family, the Balistidae, because of its distinct body colors and patterns. Indeed, its bright orange-yellow “lips” surrounded by a white ring and a wide white band underneath its eyes give this species a bit of a fanciful look, almost like a clown, so its name. 🤡
In addition , the lower half part of its oval-shaped body is covered with big white round spots, while the upper half presents a yellow patch of color with smaller black irregular dots, a bit like the body pattern of leopards. 🐆 Clown triggerfish, which can be as much as 50 cm long as adults mainly live in coral reefs in shallow tropical waters. They are commonly encountered in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, including along the coasts of Japan, Singapore and the Philippines. They love eating benthic invertebrates like sea urchins, snails and clams, and have strong jaws and front teeth that are able to smash the hard shells of their food. 🐚
The clown-like appearance of triggerfish, should however not hide their seriousness and dedication to raise offspring. They exhibit biparental or maternal care, which means that either both parents or the mother alone will guard and take care of the eggs after they are laid and until those hatch. 🤱🏻👨🏻🍼 To maximize the healthy growth of their babies, parents will remove parasites and fungi, attack potential predators, slowly blow water onto and fan their eggs with their fins in order to keep them well oxygenated. During the breeding season when they are guarding their eggs, they are often not so friendly when you get near their homes, trying to attack any potential invaders who will harm their babies. ⛔️ Even outside the breeding season, however, the clown triggerfish is not a gentle friend in the neighborhood, but rather a loner and a grumpy neighbor defending every centimeter square of its territory! 😡💢
The name triggerfish also comes for a reason – the first and second dorsal spines on the back have a trigger-like mechanism, with the second, smaller spine acting like a trigger. 🔫 As an analogy, when a gun is fired, the trigger is first pulled to then release the spring-loaded hammer that fires the bullet. 💥 In the triggerfish, the shorter second dorsal spine acts like the trigger of a gun, as it is responsible for locking the first, larger first spine in place (which is the hammer). 🔒 When the first spine is erected, it is impossible to press it down without lowering the second spine first. This mechanism helps the clown triggerfish to protect itself from danger. When a clown triggerfish is in danger, it will swim into small rocky crevices and lock itself inside by anchoring the erected first spine tightly onto the crevice, so that the predators will not be able to pull it out. When they will finally be back to safety, they will “unlock the trigger” by depressing the second spine so that the first spine can be released. 🔓
Do come to the Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum and visit this fish with a personality! 🐠
Text: Joyce Lee
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