The queen triggerfish (''Balistes vetula'') is a large triggerfish species found in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Its body coloration ranges from steel grey to olive green, but around the mouth are orange areas with striking electric blue rays. This species is commonly found in coral reefs or rocky bottoms of the sea. Its diet mainly composed of shelled invertebrates like crabs and sea urchins. When breeding, the queen triggerfish dig a sandpit with its fin to lay eggs and fiercely defend eggs. This species is an important food fish among Caribbean communities, often harvested by hook-and-lines or fish traps.

Taxonomy

''Balistes vetula'' was first formally described in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' published in 1758 with its type locality given as

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

. In 1865

Pieter Bleeker Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, Ichthyology, ichthyologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on ...

designated this species as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus ''

Balistes ''Balistes'' is a genus of marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Balistidae, the triggerfishes. The triggerfishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Balistes ...

''. ''

'' is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

of the family Balistidae, which is classified in the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Balistoidei in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Tetraodontiformes Tetraodontiformes (), also known as the Plectognathi, is an order of ray-finned fishes which includes the pufferfishes and related taxa. This order has been classified as a suborder of the order Perciformes, although recent studies have found ...

Etymology

''Balistes vetula'' is the type species of the genus ''Balistes'', a name which refers to the first spine of the dorsal fin being locked in place by the erection of the shorter second trigger spine, and unlocked by depressing the second spine. ''Balistes'' is taken directly from the Italian ''pesca ballista'', the "crossbow fish". ''

Ballista The ballista (Latin, from Ancient Greek, Greek βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae or ballistas, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an Classical antiquity, ancient missile weapon tha ...

'' originally being a machine for throwing arrows. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

''vetula'' means "old woman" or "old wife", the Latin

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

of ''vieja'', a Spanish name used in Cuba for this species which was recorded by the Cuban naturalist Antonio Parra in 1787. This name apparently follows a Portuguese tradition of some larger fishes common names which allude to women. George Shaw said "It is supposed to have obtained the popular title of Old Wife Fish from the appearance of the mouth when viewed in front, as well as from the slightly murmuring noise which it utters when first taken."

Description

Among all triggerfishes, the queen triggerfish is a fairly large species, often reaches a

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of 45 centimeters. The female tends to be larger than male. It is oval-shaped and laterally compressed, with small eyes close to the top of its head. Despite having a small mouth, its jaw is extremely powerful and accompanied by sharp incisors. Compared to other larger triggerfishes with overlapped spread, such as grey triggerfish and ocean triggerfish, the queen triggerfish is easily recognizable with its color patterns. The body is generally steel grey to oval green, with orange parts below its mouth and pectoral fin. There are electric blue rays presented around its mouth, as well as dark blue lines radiating from its eyes. In addition, there’s a visible blue line at the end of the caudal fin. Its first dorsal fin is triangular, with spines to stuck the fish into cervices when resting or escaping from predators. Its second dorsal fin and anal is very long and triangular, while its caudal fin is crescent-shaped. The juvenile queen triggerfish has almost identical appearance, but is duller compared to an adult. It can change colour somewhat to match its surroundings, or if subjected to stress.

Distribution

The queen triggerfish could be found in the Atlantic waters, most commonly in warmer regions. In the Western Atlantic, its range spans from Massachusetts to Brazil, as well as the Caribbean Sea. It’s most common in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. While on the Eastern Atlantic, its range stretches from the Azores to Southern Angola.

Ecology

Habitat

The queen triggerfish generally resides in rocky seabed or coral reefs, but is occasionally found in sandy seabed or seagrass meadows. It could inhabit in water as deep as 275m, but is most commonly found in much shallower water no deeper than 30m.

Feeding

The queen triggerfish feeds on a variety of prey items, mainly on

sea urchins Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body covered by a spiny p ...

, crabs and

chitons Chitons () are marine (ocean), marine molluscs of varying size in the class (biology), class Polyplacophora ( ), formerly known as Amphineura. About 940 Extant taxon, extant and 430 fossil species are recognized. They are also sometimes known ...

, but also occasionally preys on shrimps, snails,

bivalves Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...

, small fishes and

brittle stars Brittle stars, serpent stars, or ophiuroids (; ; referring to the serpent-like arms of the brittle star) are echinoderms in the class Ophiuroidea, closely related to starfish. They crawl across the sea floor using their flexible arms for locomot ...

. When feeding, it generally repeatedly bites the victim in order to crush its shell or detach it from the reef by sharp incisors. In this process, the queen triggerfish may swallow the prey and immediately split it out. Purposes of such behavior include to repositioning the prey for further bites or removing inedible parts. However, in occasions that it is foraging a more agile and fast-swimming prey, it would simply suck the prey into its mouth.

Life cycle

The queen triggerfish breeds throughout the year. Larger females are thought to be capable of releasing eggs more than 80 times a year. Most breedings occur around the full moon. It often migrates to a certain breeding ground for mating. When breeding, it digs a shallow sand pit on seabed with its fin and lays eggs inside. After that, parent fishes would intensively take care of eggs and become extremely aggressive and

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

. It may use a membrane below its pectoral fins to make noise alerting other animals to stay away. After hatching, larvae are often drifted away by ocean currents. On average, male reaches maturity when 2.7 years old, while female reaches maturity at 4 years old. The maximum lifespan of the queen triggerfish is still debated. An otolith study from 1980s claimed that it could only live for 7 years, while a later study of its growth pattern reports a lifespan of 14 years. Analysis of bomb

radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and coll ...

proposes a much longer lifespan of 40 years at maximum.

Predators & parasites

In natural environment, main predators of queen triggerfishes are larger

piscivorous A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish. Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evolution (via water-bound amphibians during the Devonian period); insectivory came next; then in time, the more terrestrially adapted rept ...

reef fishes, such as jacks,

groupers Groupers are a diverse group of marine ray-finned fish in the family Epinephelidae, in the order Perciformes. Groupers were long considered a subfamily of the seabasses in Serranidae, but are now treated as distinct. Not all members of this f ...

and sharks. It is the host of whole variety of parasites including several species of

copepods Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthic (living on the sediments), several species have ...

isopods Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

leeches Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bod ...

tapeworms Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms. Their bodies con ...

, flukes and

nematodes The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (he ...

Relationship to humans

Interaction with divers

Generally speaking, the queen triggerfish is shy toward divers and often swim away when approached. Occasionally, it may show curiosity and swim around divers. However, it is incredibly aggressive when guarding eggs and could perform a nasty bite to divers if harassed.

As aquarium fish

Atlantic coral reef exhibit Baltimore Aquarium Balistes vetula

Due to its striking color, the queen triggerfish may be kept in an aquarium. Most individuals sold on market were captured from wild population in the Caribbeans. However, due to its large size and territoriality, it requires a very large tank so is rarely placed in private aquariums.

As food

The queen triggerfish is a staple food fish for many Latin American communities on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, often harvested by hook-and-line or

fish traps A fish trap is a trap used for catching fish and other aquatic animals of value. Fish traps include fishing weirs, cage traps, fish wheels and some fishing net rigs such as fyke nets. The use of traps are culturally almost universal arou ...

. Also, it is commonly found as

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

of commercial longline fisheries. However, this fish may contain Ciguatoxin.

Conservation

Populations of queen triggerfish in the U.S water and the Caribbean Sea are overall healthy. In addition to that, Puerto Rico and U.S Virgin Islands have protected its breeding grounds as no-take zones. However, its population in Brazilian water and the Gulf of Guinea has suffered disastrous decline, losing more than 90% of individuals since 1980s, primarily due to overfishing.

References

External links

animal-world.com Page on queen triggerfish

Aquarium Fish: Triggerfish
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q302151

vetula Vetula means "old woman" in Latin connotation being more like witch than other and may refer to: * Vetula, a 7th-century name for corn dolly Corn dollies or corn mothers are a form of straw work made as part of harvest customs of Europe before ...

Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Fish of Aruba Marine fish of Nicaragua