Bursa Triggerfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The Bursa is a smaller trigger than most on this list, but that is no indicator of mild manners: it is genuinely aggressive, especially toward smaller or slower fish, and it does not get along with other triggerfish in anything but a very large system. It is not reef safe and will eat crabs, snails, bivalves, and other invertebrates readily. Feed a varied carnivore diet of squid, krill, clams, and small fish, including hard-shelled foods to keep its teeth worn down. It is not venomous, but it bites, digs enthusiastically, and grunts audibly when it feels threatened, so give it a tank with secure rockwork and robust tankmates rather than anything timid.

In the wild

Lives on reef flats and slopes across the Indo-Pacific, from the surface down to about 120 meters. It forages over rock, rubble, and sand for crabs, mollusks, and other invertebrates, and retreats into a crevice at night or when threatened. In the tank it wants sturdy caves and rockwork, since it is a determined digger and rearranger.

Good to know

Sufflamen bursa is a triggerfish in the family Balistidae, reaching about 25 cm, identified by a face split diagonally into white and yellow halves by a dark line, and a large black patch on the lower body that gives it the alternate name blackbelly triggerfish. Like other triggerfish it can lock its first dorsal spine upright using a second smaller spine as a catch, wedging itself into a crevice so firmly that it is very difficult to remove by force.

Did you know

Its half white, half yellow face split by a dark line looks almost like a mask, and combined with the large dark patch low on its body, this pattern makes it one of the easier triggerfish to identify at a glance even for beginners who cannot yet tell most Balistidae apart.

Related species

• 

  Picasso Triggerfish

  Rhinecanthus aculeatus

  11.8 in (30 cm)180 gal (680 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Undulated triggerfish

  Balistapus undulatus

  11.8 in (30 cm)180 gal (680 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Wedgetail triggerfish

  Rhinecanthus rectangulus

  11.8 in (30 cm)106 gal (400 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Bluethroat Triggerfish

  Xanthichthys auromarginatus

  9.1 in (23 cm)125 gal (473 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Clown Triggerfish

  Balistoides conspicillum

  19.7 in (50 cm)300 gal (1,135 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Queen triggerfish

  Balistes vetula

  19.7 in (50 cm)238 gal (900 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)