Balistes+Vetula



**Balistes vetula** //(Queen Triggerfish)// **Animal Classification:**

 * //Kingdom// - Animalia
 * //Phylum// - Chordata
 * //Class// - Actinopterygii
 * //Order// - Tetraodontiformes
 * //Family// - Balistidae


 * This animal is marked as "vulnerable" by C. Roberts in 1996.**


 * Threat & Reason for Endangerment**

The fish is an important commercial food fish and is very vulnerable to spear fishing and trapping. In 1983 and 1984, the abundance of its primary source of food; sea urchins "underwent massive mortality on reefs throughout the Caribbean," therefore there was not as much food to go around of the Queen Triggerfish, luckily the fish found alternative food sources.

The fish is located in protected marine areas in its range and some areas are a no-fishing zone.
 * Conservation Efforts**

//My Solution -// Stop fishing for them. - Make laws that they should not be sold for eating purposes or for pets. - Protect their habitat in any way possible.

The Queen Triggerfish is located in the Atlantic Ocean where as the temperature is around 26 degress Celcius and the salinity is around 36 PSS. Tropical; 28°C - ?; 43°N - 35°S, 98°W - 14°E

The Atlantic ocean was formed around 150 million years ago when a rift opened up the "supercontinent" of Gondwanaland, seperating South America and Africa. Today this seperation still occurs along the Mid Atlantic Ridge, resulting in a movement of several centimeters a year. The ridge has more "rugged topography than any mountain range on land," being about 1500 km wide and 1-3 km above the ocean bottom. This ridge is also the main cause of the Atlantic's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. "Living in the Atlantic Ocean, the Queen Triggerfish lives around the Gulf Stream Current. Also located in Western and Eastern Indian Ocean, Western Central and Eastern Central Atlantic."


 * Maximum size of 60.0 cm - 23.6 inches
 * Weigh about 5,440 g
 * Flamboyant mixture of green, blue, yellow which depending on its mood, can be light or dark.
 * Vivid blue patterns on fins snd head.
 * Roundish flat body, laterally flat body with an anterior dorsal fin. Can erect 2 dorsal spines (first one locks and second one unlocks) which prevents predators from pulling them out of their holes and attacking. The locking and locking is where they get the name "triggerfish."
 * Small pelvic fin, fused to the spine.
 * Small eyes located on the top of their head that can move independently from eachother.
 * Tough skin covered in scales.
 * "Angular" shaped head that extends into a "snout with strong jaws and sharp teeth," for crushing shells.
 * Each jaw has a row of 8 teeth but the upper jaw has another row of 6 teeth.

Food Chain/ Web
The Queen Triggerfish eats meaty foods such as starfish, sea urchins, hard shell mollusks and echinoderms but some also may feed on algae and zooplankton. The animals preying on the Queen Triggerfish are: white marlin, longbill spearfish, little tuna, skipjack tuna, albacore, and yellowfin tuna.

__**Reproduction**__ Triggerfish lay their eggs that stick to coral, algae and rock and are protected by being camouflaged as well as the male guarding them.

Minimum population - doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years.
 * Population**

//It does not appear to have any migration patterns.//

1. What is the size of the Queen Triggerfish? 2. What foods does the fish eat? 3. What shape head does the fish have?

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