Orange Striped Triggerfish

Facts about the Orange Striped Triggerfish, it is an omnivore native to the Indo-Pacific region.


All in a Name

The scientific name for the Orange Striped Triggerfish species is Balistapus undulates. It is the only member of its genus Balistapus.
The Orange Striped Triggerfish is sometimes called the orange lined trigger fish, stripped triggerfish, red lined trigger fish, yellow tail triggerfish, undulated triggerfish and green trigger fish.

Physical Description

The Orange Striped Triggerfish grows up to twelve inches or thirty centimeters long. The Orange Striped Triggerfish has an oval shape and compressed body, meaning that it is not very wide horizontally. The body of the Orange Striped Triggerfish is dark green with bright orange stripes starting around the eyes to the fins. The tail fins have bright orange and green lines, as do the side fins. This Orange Striped Triggerfish species has very small pelvic fins. The Orange Striped Triggerfish has strongly pronounced orange stripes around the mouth. It has a black spot on the caudal peduncle. The dorsal spine is raised to intimidate predators and rivals.
This Orange Striped Triggerfish lives two to four years. Females can be identified by the spots over their nose, which males lack.

Behavior

The Orange Striped Triggerfish has a varied diet. It will eat algae and hard coral tips. This Orange Striped Triggerfish species is not reef safe. The Orange Striped Triggerfish will also eat mollusks, sponges, sea worms, and smaller fish. Those kept in an aquarium can be fed shrimp, small fish, krill, squid, clams, frozen mysis shrimp, pieces of shellfish, and other meaty foods. The Orange Striped Triggerfish can be fed a mixture of frozen, flake and live food. Feed them several small meals a day. They need hard shelled shrimp from time to time to wear down their teeth, which are always growing. This Orange Striped Triggerfish species is diurnal, most active at sunrise and sunset. It is solitary. And it can be territorial. It can issue a grunting sound. Like all trigger fish, it will wedge itself in a hole and raise its dorsal spine to lock itself in place.
Do not put this species in a tank with anglers, basslets, seahorses or batfish. It should not be put in a tank with sea urchins or crabs. It will typically be aggressive toward other triggerfish, in addition to its own species. It will rearrange rocks in the tank and even make caves. These Orange Striped Triggerfish lay eggs in a shallow excavation on the tank bottom.
In the wild, this fish’s main threats are sharks, dolphins, sharks, larger fish and human fisherman. Most people do not have a tank large enough to host a predator large enough to bother this fish. Adult Orange Striped Triggerfish may bite a human’s hand and will threaten it by extending its spine and charging.

Habitat

These Orange Striped Triggerfish try to stay in the demersal zone, the part of the ocean with a water column near the sea bed and the benthos. Demsersal fish tend to be bottom feeders, in contrast to pelagic fish that feed in open water. These Orange Striped Triggerfish can swim horizontally, diagonally and even hover.
This fish needs at least 60 gallons per fish in the tank, 180 gallons recommended.

Range

The Orange Striped Triggerfish species is found throughout the Indian Ocean and western Pacific. The Orange Striped Triggerfish lives in coral reefs, lagoons, and reef slopes at depths of up to 150 feet.

Trivia

This species was first identified by Tilesius in 1820.