triggerfish

trig·ger·fish

T0356200 (trĭg′ər-fĭsh′)n. pl. triggerfish or trig·ger·fish·es Any of various brightly colored fishes of the family Balistidae of warm coastal waters, having a roundish body and an erectile spine on the anterior dorsal fin that locks upright when the fish is threatened.

triggerfish

(ˈtrɪɡəˌfɪʃ) n, pl -fish or -fishes (Animals) any plectognath fish of the family Balistidae, of tropical and temperate seas. They have a compressed body with erectile spines in the first dorsal fin

trig•ger•fish

(ˈtrɪg ərˌfɪʃ)

n., pl. (esp. collectively) -fish, (esp. for individuals or kinds) -fish•es. any deep-bodied tropical fish of the family Balistidae, chiefly of tropical seas, having three stout spines on the front of the dorsal fin. [1880–85]

Thesaurus

Noun

triggerfish - any of numerous compressed deep-bodied tropical fishes with sandpapery skin and erectile spines in the first dorsal finplectognath, plectognath fish - tropical marine fishes having the teeth fused into a beak and thick skin covered with bony plates or spinesBalistidae, family Balistidae - triggerfishesBalistes vetula, Bessy cerca, oldwench, oldwife, queen triggerfish - tropical Atlantic fish

triggerfish

triggerfish,

any of several species of tropical reef fishes with laterally compressed bodies, heavy scales, and tough skins. They are named for the mechanism of the three spines of the dorsal fin: when the fish is alarmed the first of these spines is locked upright by the second and drops only when the latter is pressed like a trigger. The function of this reaction is to lock the fish firmly in a mass of coral; when attacked, the fish dives into the coral and erects the spine, releasing it only when the danger has passed. Triggerfishes have powerful, chisellike teeth adapted for cracking the coral and mollusks on which they feed. They average 1 lb (0.45 kg) in weight and 1 ft (30 cm) in length and are common around the West Indies and Florida. The gray, or common, triggerfish is variably colored in mottled browns, yellows, or grays, but many other species are strikingly colored, e.g., the queen triggerfish in blue, green, and yellow. The ocean triggerfish, which unlike most triggerfishes found in waters away from reefs, among seaweed or debris; it is up to 2 ft (60 cm) long and may weigh as much as 13 lb (6 kg). Triggerfish are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Actinopterygii, order Tetraodontiformes, family Balistidae.

triggerfish

trig·ger·fish

triggerfish

trig•ger•fish

triggerfish

triggerfish,

triggerfish

Words related to triggerfish

noun any of numerous compressed deep-bodied tropical fishes with sandpapery skin and erectile spines in the first dorsal fin

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