Queen triggerfish

Balistes vetula

Also known as Old wife, Cochino triggerfish, Ol wife, Queen trigger

SaltwaterFish

Queen triggerfish (Balistes vetula) — Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–81°F (22–27°C)
pH: 8.0–8.4
Adult size: 19.7 in (50 cm)
Minimum tank: 238 gal (900 L)
Temperament: Aggressive
Social behavior: Solitary
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Reef safe: Not reef safe
Origin: Native to the western Atlantic and Caribbean, living on coral and rocky reefs and seagrass beds where it hunts urchins.
Family: Balistidae

Overview

This large, boisterous fish needs a fish-only tank of at least 900 litres with heavy rockwork and strong filtration, at 22 to 27 C and pH 8.0 to 8.4. It is not reef safe and will eat shrimp, crabs, snails, urchins and clams and bite corals. Keep only one, house it with large, tough tankmates, and add it last. Feed a varied hard-shelled diet of clams, mussels, urchins and shrimp in the shell to wear down its teeth. It learns to recognise its owner and begs at the glass.

In the wild

The queen triggerfish is a large, colourful Atlantic trigger in blue, green, yellow and violet, with bright blue lines radiating from the eyes and long trailing filaments on the tail. It is intelligent, personable and grows into a big, powerful fish around 50 cm. It is also very aggressive and dominates almost any tank.

Good to know

Balistes vetula is a specialist predator of sea urchins, which it flips over by blowing jets of water to reach the soft underside safe from the spines. It can reach roughly 50 to 60 cm and lives for well over a decade. Adults produce audible grunts using their teeth and swim bladder.

Did you know

Queen triggerfish crack open spiny sea urchins by squirting jets of water from their mouths to flip the urchin over, then attacking the unprotected underside.