Aquaviews - SCUBA Blog » reef fish

When Titan Triggerfish Attack

Noreen — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 15:57:46 +0000

As we saw recently in a previous post, your odds of being attacked by a shark , are so slim, you have better chances of winning an Oscar award or being killed by a falling aircraft. (Read: 5 Things More Likely Than a Shark Attack). However, the same can’t be said about the seemingly harmless tropical reef fish called the Titan Triggerfish.

If your diving in the Indo-Pacific region, especially the coral reefs of Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, the Maldives and also in the Red Sea, you may want to keep an eye out for this feisty fish. The Titan triggerfish, or titantrigger as it’s also known, packs a mean bite and is more often the reason behind divers and snorkelers sporting teeth marks in their fins, skin, missing ears and the cause of many bruises. While only known to be aggressive and territorial during the reproduction season and when guarding it’s nest, the titan trigger fish has a notorious reputation that definitely increases a divers anxiety levels around it and mostly, it is well deserved. Almost anyone who has done a fair amount of scuba diving in these tropical regions will have had a run in or two with this species of triggerfish at some point or another.

So how can you tell when it’s best to stay away?
It’s when they are nesting (around April/May is some regions) that they get very feisty and will rigorously protect these nests, which is not to say they don’t get territorial even in non breeding seasons. However, for the most part it’s only to protect their nests and they are pretty docile otherwise. It’s also believed that they’re more aggressive in some places more than others, like Thailand and Egypt for example.

A prominent sign of trouble to come is when the fish rolls onto its side and with their independently rotating beady eyes, gives you the old evil eye just before they charge at you. Sometimes you will see its black fin tips raise in warning of the attack. And then with that little or no at all warning you can count on it to attack and it has the teeth to back it up!

The ‘Danger zone’
One useful thing to remember is that a triggerfish sees it’s territory (a.k.a the ‘Danger Zone’ you want to avoid being in), starting in a small area around its nest and rising to the surface in the shape of a cone. It’s nest is in the sand adjacent to or within coral. When a titan triggerfish attacks, it will charge at you continuously until you swim out of its territory.

So what do you do?
Your best plan of action if you see one is to swim away horizontally as the zone they’re protecting is an upward cone. Most divers make the mistake of swimming upwards to escape the wrath of the crazy fish that’s trying to chew their fins off, but to the triggerfish it appears that you are getting further from leaving their turf, and it will re-double it’s efforts to persuade you. Keep your eyes on the fish at all times as hard as it may be, as they are fast. They have also been observed to go for bright colors so if they come close try and get your dive fins or a hard object like an underwater camera or a dive slate or other Scuba gear between youand the titan, needless to say it’s better to have a hole in fins rather than your body!

If you’re lucky the titan trigger may won’t resort to biting but may ram into you to sort of escort you out of their nesting territory. But if you are an unfortunate victim of a triggerfish bite, it should not be treated lightly. Their bites can cause serious infection as they contain a natural poison called Ciguatoxin.

That said, it’s important to remember that Titan triggerfish are only defending what they believe are intruders in their territory, and as we are invading their world it’s not right to attack them back with dive knives or harm them in other ways. This will only make them even more weary of divers and attack them more as they are known to exhibit a level of intelligence that is unusual among fishes, and have the ability to learn from previous experiences.

*Image credits: photos by tom.demeyer and Boogies with Fish on flickr

Can You Identify These Fish Species?

Noreen — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 17:00:57 +0000

Take our quiz to find out just how well your fish identification skills are. See how many fish you can name from the pictures below -

[QUIZZIN 2]

* Photo Credits: photos by M. Christian Selfridge, BlueBeyond, richard ling, alfonsator, loloieg, Boogies with Fish, TGIGreeny, glintle , doug.deep, PacificKlaus and Nataraj Metz on flickr

Creatures That Go Bump In The Night

Nevin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:36:05 +0000

As the sun sets, and most of the reefs inhabitants make their way home for the night, there are groups of reef dwelling fish that are just beginning their day. Nocturnal fish make scuba diving at night a fascinating experience as these species of fish are mostly hidden during the day. These fish tend to have larger eyes, are more solitary, slow moving and are often reds or brown in color to make them indistinguishable as the light levels drop. Most nocturnal fish are carnivorous and predatory preying on other reef fish or invertebrates. Here are some of the more commonly sighted creatures of the night you may spot in the glare of your dive light while reef diving.

Cardinalfish
With its brilliant red to light pink colors, the Cardinal fish can be easily found in shallow reefs of the Indo-Pacific at night. This fish has a large head and eyes, a comparatively smaller body and an angled mouth with a protruding lower jaw. The Cardinalfish ranges in size from between 2- 8 inches (5-20cms) in length and there are known to be around 200 species of this fish.

Big Eyes
Bigeyes are carnivorous nocturnal fish that hide by daylight and come out at night. Most bigeyes are bright red in color but can be found in paler shades as well and can grow to a length of about 41 cm (16 inches). Bigeyes are found in almost all of the worlds the oceans in over 18 different species and are often found in large numbers hidden in shipwrecks or caverns during the day. Bigeyes have a peculiar way of swimming; they hang motionless in the water, in order to be able to observe the slightest movement around themselves. Then they suddenly dart forward, to intercept their prey.

Squirrelfish & Soldierfish
Squirrelfish & Soldierfish are perhaps one of the most easily recognized nocturnal reef fish. Known to have pinkish-red color as well as huge eyes these fish are almost completely nocturnal and remain hidden throughout the day. The squirrelfish and Soldierfish are members of the Holocentridae family of fish which comprise of around 80 species inhabiting most of the worlds oceans. Squirrelfish have a poisonous barb near their gills that can give painful stings if touched. Squirrelfish & Soldierfish are known to range in length from 5-50 cm or (6-20 in).

Porcupine Fish
One of the more common night diving sights are Porcupinefish, which like all boxfish, are endearing to look at and have large eyes and a rounded balloon-like body. These slow moving fish appear to swim very awkwardly in the water using their two fins located near their tails. While Porcupinefish are closely related to pufferfish, however porcupinefish have larger spines covering their body almost resembling a porcupine. Like pufferfish they too inflate to almost twice their normal size when threatened and possess a neurotoxin a thousand times more powerful than cyanide if eaten. These fish are nocturnal, choosing to feed at night when their favorite food, mollusks are most active.

Scorpionfish
Scorpionfish are nocturnal hunters that are often difficult to spot owing to their excellent camouflage. This fish hunts by sitting still and waiting until a victim comes close to its mouth. Then it lunges forward, while opening its enormous mouth sucking the victim inside. The body of the Scorpionfish is covered by coarse scales and may contain spines which contain a powerful neurotoxin that is lethal to humans.

Snappers
Snappers can be either nocturnal or diurnal (daytime) fish depending on their species. With over 100 species of snapper, spotting a group of them on a night-dive is relatively easy. Several species of snapper feed on crustaceans and fish and hunt voraciously.

Moray Eels
Moray eels which tend to remain in the nooks and crevices during the day, with only their vicious heads poking out are more at ease at night, and tend to leave their hiding places to swim about scavenging on tiny fish and crustaceans. Perhaps one of the best opportunities for a scuba diver to see an eel’s true length is often on a night dive.

Octopus
While you can spot octopus on the reef during the daytime, at night several species become a lot more active and swim about the reef hunting their favorite invertebrates which also favor the darkness.

Invertebrates
Many invertebrates including lobsters, shrimp, crabs, and other crustaceans, mollusks, polychaete worms, and starfish scavenge the sea beds at night. Starfish especially which remain tucked away during the day seem to appear everywhere at night. Many shrimp migrate to the surface to feed on plankton, and the sea beds are often crawling with lobsters and crabs that brave the open areas under the cover of darkness.

photos from flickr by: doug.deep, jayhem, Nemo’s great uncle, alfonsator, Marcelo Mariozi – , Melissa Bowman & richard ling

Fish Identification: The Whitemargin Unicornfish

Nevin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:27:28 +0000

The Whitemargin Unicornfish is truly a fascinating Reef Fish which is a delight to sight while scuba diving in the waters of the Indo-Pacific. These fish are known as Unicornfish because of a spike/horn that protrudes from its forehead which can grow quite prominently which makes this fish easy to identify and a curious inhabitant of the reef. The “Whitemargin” part of its name comes from the tail of the fish which is black surrounded by a white margin.

Whitemargin Unicornfish or Naso annulatus belong to the Tang or Surgeonfish family known as Annulatus. The distinctive characteristic of the Annulatus or surgeonfish family is the spines, one or more on either side of the tail, which are dangerously sharp. The Whitemargin comes from the “Naso” genus of the Annulatus family which comprise of 17 species of tropical marine surgeonfish’s all having some form of horn or protrusion from their foreheads. The word Naso in Latin means nose.

The Whitemargin unicornfish is found throughout the Indo-Pacific, commonly found in coral reefs, and rocky tropical areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Red Sea. Some are also said to be found near Hawaii and Japan. This species lives in the reefs at the depth range of 1 – 60 m i.e. up to 197 feet.

The Whitemargin can reach a length of 100 cm (3.3 ft) making it one of the largest members of the Surgeonfish family and a delight to divers, especially underwater photographers who spot an adult specimen on their dive.

These fish are mainly active in daytime and roam in groups feeding on algae. Being pure herbivores, their favorite food comprises of Leafy brown algae such as sargassum.

The horn-like appendage between their eyes begins growing when a young fish reaches about 13 cm (5 in) in length, and tends to be a little bigger on males. The fish never use this horn as a weapon or even for self-defense but instead use their sharp scalpel-like spines by their tails as a weapon.

photos from flickr by Zanthia, JoshBerglund19, Oriolus

The Friendly Napoleon Wrasse

Nevin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:01:09 +0000

The Napoleon Wrasse, is known by several different names; the Humphead Wrasse, Napoleonfish, Maori wrasse or Mameng. It is also one of the most favorite fish of divers to come across while Scuba diving. Firstly its size is an imposing presence, and its curious and intelligent looking eyes will watch your every move carefully. Humphead Wrasse are mostly loved by divers because they are extremely curious, often unafraid of divers and enjoy tactile interaction. Napoleon Wrasse are known to get attached to divers and can often recognize their favorite diver and approach to be stroked, often nudging the diver like a dog does when it wants to be petted.

Males of the Napoleon Wrasse family can reach up to 6 feet (2m) in length with the largest recorded Wrasse at 7.7 feet (2.29 m) are easily identifiable by their bright electric blue/green, purplish blue, or a relatively dull blue/green color with large lips and a prominent hump that forms on its head slightly above it’s eyes. Juveniles and females are reddish orange in color or a dull brown.

These creatures are usually found solitary on the slopes of coral reefs, reef edges and sharp drop-offs, in waters as deep as 330 feet (100m). Being opportunistic predators, they prey primarily on crustaceans, mollusks, sea stars, sea urchins and crabs. Wrasse are also known to feed on toxic, poisonous fish such as puffer-fish, boxfish and crown-of-thorns starfish, which is why they are such an integral part of maintaining the balance in the reef.

One of the more interesting facts about Napoleon Wrasse is their long lifespan, often living up to 30 years reaching sexual maturity only after 5-7 years. This however means that they have a very slow breeding rate, which has caused their numbers to dwindle over the years, primarily due to over fishing, and reef destruction. Napoleon Wrasse are now a protected species of fish in several parts of the world, and found only in large numbers in the Red-Sea, coast of east Africa and the indo-pacific.

photos by Taro Taylor

Trigger Happy- Diving With The Feisty Titan Triggerfish

Noreen — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:23:00 +0000

While the chances of a shark attacking you when you Scuba dive are about 1 in 11.5 million as we have seen in our previous post “Overcoming The ‘Jaws’ Factor When You Dive“, we wish we could say the same about the feisty Titan Trigger Fish. This seemingly harmless reef species of Triggerfish packs a mean bite and is more often the reason behind divers and snorkelers sporting teeth marks in their fins, skin, missing ears and the cause of many bruises. While only known to be aggressive and territorial during the reproduction season and when guarding it’s nest, the titan trigger fish has an infamous reputation that definitely increases a divers anxiety levels around it. Here’s more about the trigger happy Titan Triggerfish. (*Photo by – Boogies with Fish on flickr)

About the Titan Triggerfish
Scientifically known as Balistoides Viridescens, the Titan is the largest of the triggerfish species and can grow up to 75cm (30 inches) in length. Native to the Indo-Pacific region, the titan trigger can be found of in the coral reefs of Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and the Maldives also in the Red Sea. They are quite photogenic with a slightly elongated body which is usually a green to dark grey in color and have yellow or green fins with black tips and a purple lower jaw. What stands out most in this fish is it’s eyes. The Titans have independently rotating eye sockets and look like they are giving you the old evil eye just before they charge at you.

(*Photo by – tom.demeyer on flickr)

Titan triggerfish feed on shellfish, urchins, crustaceans and coral. They are the workers of the reef and can be seen busy turning over rocks, stirring up the sand and biting off pieces of branching coral, which is why other smaller fish species tag around it as they feed off the left overs.

Titan Aggression
Titan triggers are solitary creatures and like most reef fish, they are active during the day and will tuck themselves into the reef to sleep at night. It’s when they are nesting that they get very feisty and will rigorously protect these nests, which is not to say they don’t get territorial even in non breeding seasons. The ‘Danger Zone’ you wan to avoid being in, is a cone shape extending from their nest which usually in the sand adjacent to or within the coral.

A prominent sign of trouble to come is when the fish rolls onto its side to get a better look at you with its beady swiveling eyes some times your see its black fin tips raise in warning of the attack. You’re best action plan if you see one is to swim away horizontally as the zone they’re protecting is an upward cone and ascending is not going to stop the titan from defending its turf. Keep your eyes on the fish at all times, as hard as it may be as they are fast, also if they come close try and get your dive fins or a hard object like an underwater camera or a dive slate or other Scuba gear between you and the titan, needless to say it’s better to have a hole or in fins than your body! (*Photo by – Boogies with Fish on flickr)

Titan triggerfish won’t always resort to violence though on occasion they just charge straight at the person and ram into them to sort of escort them out of the nesting territory. However, that said it’s not advisable to stick around to find out the intensity of its attack and just quickly swim away horizontally to avoid it’s wrath.

If you are an unfortunate victim of a triggerfish bite it should not be treated lightly. Their bites can cause serious infection as they contain a natural poison called Ciguatoxin, which can have serious affects on humans and in extreme cases cause a heart attack or paralysis.

That said, it’s important to remember that Titan triggerfish are only defending what they believe are intruders in their territory and we shouldn’t harm them or behave aggressively towards them in any way as this will only make them even more weary of divers. Defend yourself and deal with this feisty fish non-aggressively and to each his own. (*Photo by – Boogies with Fish on flickr)

The Most Beautiful Fish in the Reef

Noreen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:01:14 +0000

When surfing the internet you always find lists of the ugliest, weirdest fish and creatures in this world. It’s like we go out of our way to find the bizarre but often forget to stop and look at the good and the beautiful. Here’s a post dedicated to the most colorful, graceful and majestic creatures that live in our Oceans. As a diver, it brings back my first diving experiences and these beauties of the reefs, not the thrill of the deep are my reason for diving again and again.

Presenting, in no particular order- The Most Beautiful Fish of the Reefs:

Parrot Fish
Easily distinguished by their peculiar beak shaped mouth. With over 90 species of Parrot fish come in the most bright colors from parrot green, to shades of blue, reds and yellows. These fish are found in abundance in shallow reefs around the world, including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. An interesting fact about this species is that they are largely responsible for the fine white sand of many tropical coral islands today. While breaking of chunks of coral and rocky substrates for algae they grind up the coral rock and excrete the same as a fine sand which have over the thousands of years helped create the small islands and sandy beaches in the Bahamas and Caribbean. One parrot fish can produce upto 90kgs (approx. 198 pounds) of sand each year. (*Pictured above is a Rainbow Parrot fish. Source: wikipedia)

Trigger Fish
Often the most patterned fish in the sea Trigger fish are very oval with a large head and similar to the Parrot fish it has a strong jawed mouth with teeth, for crushing shells. Of the many types of trigger fish, the clown trigger is the most popular as the prettiest cos of it’s leopard like spots on it’s top half and big white spots on the bottom half, outlined by the bright yellow on it’s tail and mouth. The Picasso trigger is also an unusual appearance which is like a work of art. It features a creamy grayish-tan and white colored body splashed with many distinctive bright blue and yellow fine-line, and golden, black and white wide-band type markings. Some trigger fish like the Picasso and the Titan trigger make circular rock nests and are fiercely protective of them. They are known to attack divers and snorkelers anywhere near the vicinity of their nests, and which their hard jaw and large size they can cause serious injury. (*Pictured above is a Clown Trigger fish. Source: wikipedia)

Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Also known as the harlequin mantis shrimp or painted mantis shrimp, the Peacock Mantis Shrimp is looks a lot like a mantis from the front. Called a peacock cos the bright colors on it’s tail, this shrimp contrary to it’s colorful exterior can be quite aggressive and keep in a salt water aquarium will eat up most of the tanks occupants. In fact they are known to be able to break through thick aquarium glass and are often kept solitary in acrylic tanks. While diving this large shrimp is native to the Indo-pacific region from Guam to East Africa. (*Pictured above is a Peacock Mantis Shrimp . Image by: sturmjah on flickr)

Bluefaced Angelfish
Not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, Marine angelfish with their vibrant colors are some of the more conspicuous residents of the reef. With over 86 different types of angelfish, the blue-faced is just one of many beautiful fish to choose from. Most marine angelfishes restrict themselves to the shallows of the reef, seldom venturing deeper than 50 m and are found in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific oceans. (*Pictured above is a Bluefaced Angelfish. Source: wikipedia)

Threadfin Butterflyfish
Butterflyfish look like smaller versions of angelfish and are found in the same regions. The common name butterflyfish references the brightly colored and strikingly patterned bodies, bearing shades of black, white, blue, red, orange and yellow. Some species are dull in color however. Many have eyespots on their flanks and dark bands across their eyes, not unlike the patterns seen on butterfly wings. The Threadfin butterflyfish is a beautifully patterned white, black and bright yellow fish. (*Pictured above is a Threadfin Butterlyfish. Image by: on Razvan Marescu flickr)