©Anne Hoggett: Eyestripe Triggerfish at MacGillivray Reef
Colours
Distinguishing features
A medium sized fish with a dark brown body and a dark purple throat and belly. A pale stripe runs vertically underneath the eye, and the tail is edged with white. Juveniles are greenish brown above, abruptly white below, with a broad green/brown submarginal band on the tail. Swims using an undulating motion of the dorsal and anal fins.
Size
- Up to 30 cm (Standard length)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Distribution and habitat preferences
Rubble areas on reef flats, and rubble zones adjacent to rocky shores.
Found in most reef habitats around the island.
Behaviour
Eye-stripe Triggerfishes are usually found singly or in loose groups, roaming slowly over rubble areas searching for their invertebrate prey. They have powerful jaws with large teeth and can feed on a wide range of food items, including molluscs, crustaceans, worms and echinoderms. They are shy fish and will retire into a hole if approached too closely.
This species is gonochoric and sexually dimorphic, with seperate sexes throught the life span and larger males. Triggerfishes have demersal eggs which they lay in a benthic nest which is closely guarded by the female for 3-5days until the larvae hatch.The newly settled juveniles are often found in the high intertidal near rocky shores.
Web resources
References
References that assist with identification
- Allen, G., R. Steene, P. Humann and N. Deloach (2003). Reef fish identification: Tropical Pacific New World Publications Inc., Jacksonville, FL, USA.
- Leis, J.M. and B.M. Carson-Ewart (2000). Larvae of Indo-Pacific Coastal Fishes Brill, Leiden, pp. 1-850. LIRS catalog number 660.
Other references
- Bean, K., G.P. Jones and M.J. Caley (2002). Relationships among distribution, abundance and microhabitat specialisation in a guild of coral reef triggerfish (family Balistidae), Marine Ecology Progress Series, 233: 263-272. LIRS catalog number 90019.
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