How dangerous are triggerfish?

[ScubaSarus]

Someone spotted a trigger fish here in RI this weekend. The tropicals come in off the Gulf Stream the first 2 weeks of september and then seem to die off. Trigger fish are tropical aren't they ?

 

[ScubaSarus]

triggerfish
Related: Vertebrates

any of several species of tropical reef fishes with laterally compressed bodies, heavy scales, and tough skins

Well that answers my question.

 

[bruehlt]

Anyone have any idea what kind of trigger this is??

Look in the background, two for the price of one - they like to change colors!

Looks pissed too, trigger's locked cocked and ready to rock! I didn't know these were triggers when I was shooting them, guess that's why they didn't take off! Luckily I didn't get bit.

 

[Wreck]

If you have speared one, you are likely to get a nip. If you are spearfishing you must expect defensive behavior. I've never seen a fish successfully bite anyone if on the stringer properly. My preferred method is in the eye and out the mouth. This is especially effective with triggers due to their small mouths. A trigger is the only fish I've ever speared that was still trying to bite with one fillet removed.

They are pretty good eating, if you want to risk breaking a knife trying to cut through that dragonscale hide of theirs. The last time I had one on a stringer, I ran it in the gill and out the mouth. It was biting it's way up my stringer for the remainder of that dive. I found it amusing, but caused some respect. I've never seen any other type of local fish do this.

 

[discrepancy]

If you want to risk breaking a knife trying to cut through that dragonscale hide of theirs. The last time I had one on a stringer, I ran it in the gill and out the mouth. It was biting it's way up my stringer for the remainder of that dive. I found it amusing, but caused some respect. I've never seen any other type of local fish do this.

This is why spearo's need to learn more about what they are doing and the fish they are killing. All triggerfish/leatherjackets are out of the same family - tough skin instead of scales, small mouths with sharp teeth and powerful jaws capable of biting through almost anything, including monofilament line. That's why fishermen use long-shanked hooks when they're after leatherjackets. And, yes, most triggerfish and leatherjackets have firm white flesh which is good eating.

If you've learned to respect triggersfish because they can bite through your stringer, then I hope you can learn some respect for other species you hunt as well.

For your edification, the way to 'skin' a leatherjacket is to cut down vertically behind the main dorsal 'trigger'. Go just through the backbone. Then take the head in one hand and the back of the body in the other, and peel the head down and under the body. The guts will all come out cleanly with the head, and the skin on the body will peel like a mandarin. From there you can fillet, fry or steam - your choice. I pass this on to you so next time you spear one, you won't need to butcher him (and wreck your precious knife) in your backyard and ruin what could have been a decent meal.

 

[maractwin]

Anyone have any idea what kind of trigger this is??

Look in the background, two for the price of one - they like to change colors!

That's not a triggerfish, it's a white spotted filefish. Filefishes are also leatherjackets and are somewhat related to the triggers. The white spotted filefish is fairly common throughout the Caribbean, and is often seen in pairs. Usually one is mostly orange, and the other showing white spots. But they can change their color patterns quite quickly.

-Mark

 

[bruehlt]

That's not a triggerfish, it's a white spotted filefish. Filefishes are also leatherjackets and are somewhat related to the triggers. The white spotted filefish is fairly common throughout the Caribbean, and is often seen in pairs. Usually one is mostly orange, and the other showing white spots. But they can change their color patterns quite quickly.

-Mark

Oops - time to go buy an id book!