Balistes vetula, Queen triggerfish : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

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Balistes vetula Linnaeus, 1758

Queen triggerfish
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Balistes vetula   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Balistes vetula (Queen triggerfish)
Balistes vetula
Picture by Johnson, L.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Balistidae (Triggerfishes)
Etymology: Balistes: Latin, balista, -ae = crossbowman. In Greek, ballo = to throw (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 2 - 275 m (Ref. 4727), usually 3 - 30 m (Ref. 40849). Tropical; ? - 28°C; 43°N - 35°S, 98°W - 14°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western and Eastern Atlantic.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 23.5  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 5.4 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 14 years (Ref. 128045)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3; Dorsal soft rays (total): 29-32; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 27 - 29. Greenish or bluish gray on back, orange-yellow on lower part of head and abdomen, with two broad diagonal curved bright blue bands running from snout to below and in front of pectoral fins, the lowermost continuous with a blue ring around lips; a broad blue bar across caudal peduncle, and blue sub-marginal bands in median fins (Ref. 13442).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found over rocky or coral areas (Ref. 5217). May form schools, sometimes solitary over sand and grassy areas. Feeds mainly on benthic invertebrates (Ref. 4727). It preys on sea urchins by blowing water to overturn it and then attacks it where the spines are short (Ref. 9710). Excellent food fish but occasionally can cause intoxication due to the liver.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Matsuura, Keiichi | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Near Threatened (NT) ; Date assessed: 06 June 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Poisonous to eat





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 22.5 - 28, mean 25.9 °C (based on 694 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5078   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02818 (0.02342 - 0.03391), b=2.94 (2.89 - 2.99), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.1 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.15-0.57).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (54 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 26.5 [11.1, 71.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.509 [0.261, 1.159] mg/100g; Protein = 18.8 [17.5, 20.0] %; Omega3 = 0.147 [0.086, 0.260] g/100g; Selenium = 55.9 [27.7, 119.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 38.8 [10.7, 149.4] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.768 [0.513, 1.158] mg/100g (wet weight);