Balistes polylepis
Finescale Triggerfish
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Tetraodontiformes (Pufferfishes and Allies)
Balistidae (Triggerfishes)
Balistes
Balistes polylepis (Finescale Triggerfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: short and / or deep. Body compressed and deep; skin thick, with large, rectilinear, plate-like scales that are easily visible to the naked eye; mouth small; teeth strong and protruding, 8 in each jaw; dorsal fin with 3 spines and 26 to 28 rays; scales behind the gill openings larger than the neighboring scales; snout surrounded by scales (Ref. 55763).
Distribution
Eastern Pacific from northern California to Chile and Hawaiian Islands; including the Galapagos Islands.
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 3-60 m. Found in: coral reefs.
Biology
Occurs in rocky reefs, boulder strewn slopes and adjacent areas of sand. Adults demersal; young pelagic (Ref. 2850). Feeds on sea urchins, small crustaceans and mollusks (Ref. 5227). Minimum depth 3m (Ref. 116844).
Max length: 76.0 cm TL; common length: 50.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2008-05-01. Resilience: Low (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Grove, J.S. and R.J. Lavenberg (1997) The fishes of the Galápagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 863 p.
Jiménez Prado, P. and P. Béarez (2004) Peces Marinos del Ecuador continental. Tomo 2: Guía de Especies / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador. Volume 2: Species Guide. SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA.
Nieto-Navarro, J.T., M. Zetina-Rejón and F. Arreguín-Sánchez (2010) Length-weight relationship of demersal fish from the eastern coast of the mouth of the gulf of California. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 5(6):494-502.
Matsuura, K. (2015) Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014. Ichthyol. Res. 62(1):72-113. DOI: 10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5
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