Grey triggerfish

Gray Triggerfish ( Balistes capriscus )

The gray triggerfish ( Balistes capriscus, Syn: Balistes carolinensis ), also Atlantic or Mediterranean triggerfish called, lives in the Mediterranean and Black Sea, in the eastern Atlantic from the British Isles to Angola, as well as in the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia over the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of northern Argentina, at depths of 10 to 100 meters. Occasionally he is also the only triggerfish, Irrgast in the North Sea. He lives singly or in loose groups on rocky bottoms and seagrass beds.

Gray triggerfish feed on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, particularly mussels, snails and various crustaceans. They are considered tasty food fish.

Features

Gray triggerfish are monochromatic blue-gray, blue-green, olivaceous or brownish. The unpaired fins carry small light blue dots. The fish are 60 inches long.

Fins formula: Dorsal III/26-29, Anal 23-26

Reproduction

The breeding season of the Mediterranean population is the summer. The female builds a shallow pit in the sand in which the eggs are laid and then guarded by the male. The eggs are round and transparent. After about 50 to 55 hours to slip the pelagic larvae which drift with the current.