How dangerous are triggerfish?

[Henrik]

When I visited Koh Tao a couple of years ago, an instructor working for Buddha View was bitten in the head rather severe. He actually had to sew a few stitches! On the other hand, I guess Triggers at Koh Tao are quit tirred of the lasrge number of divers going there...

/Henrik

 

[Beach Bum k10]

Trigger fish harmless??? Baracuda harmless???

Most people think dogs are harmless until they are bitten by one.

There is a place call trigger fish garden off Koh Tao. If you swim into their nesting area, 5 or 6 of those will attack you at the same time. I tried it just to experience the excitement. Yes you can chase them away, but they will rurn around and attack again, and again until you leave the nesting area. luckily, I got out with only trigger fish teeth marks on my fins. If you have seen my fin.....

A boat owner in the keys hung a shiny metal scraper on her arm after finishing scraping the bottom of her boat. She lost a big chunk of her upper arm to cuda and were rushed to hospital.

Yeah they are harmless, until you have been bitten.

 

[agstreet]

I don't know if it's a general observation, but my experiences seem to mirror what I'm hearing here. I've seen *very* agressive triggerfish in Thailand and Malaysia (had one keep chasing me for 50 meters or so), but not so much in the Caribbean. It seems the triggerfish in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf are a bit more docile than those in the Indo-Pacific region. I'm sure jeffweiss is correct in his observations, he just doesn't realize how much he doesn't know. I've also seen 15mm Nikonos lenses and 8" dome ports shattered by triggerfish, so any fish that can do that much monetary damage is worth respecting, at least as far as I'm concerned.

Alan

 

[PapaBob]

Jeff has obviously never been bitten by one. I once had a (fortunately) small trigger try to remove the pinkie finger on my camera hand (much to the chagrin of my dive buddy who laughed so hard the regulator fell out of his mouth). The injury was momentary pain and a deep scratch.

Triggers are not normally agressive but are fearless and will follow any hunting (read lobster or ornamental) diver looking for an easy meal. Any diver not presenting a target or stirring up trigger-food is safe.

---Bob

 

[Fishbait99]

I can't say for sure that triggers are or aren't aggressive in all cases, only speak on my own experience. I've encountered several in the water, and never seen any signs of aggression. I'm not denying anyone who says they've seen them bite, just telling what I myself have witnessed.

Someone had asked for photos. Here's a picture of an ocean trigger. I'll post a picture of a queen trigger shortly.

 

[Fishbait99]

Here's that queen trigger. As you can see, I am by no means a professional photographer, but you should be able to get a feel for what they look like.

 

[crispos]

Queen triggerfish in the Caribbean have vice like jaws so you don't want to get too close to those. I have shot plenty of them (free diving) because they make a good filet on the skillet. Not aggressive at all. Lots of Picasso triggers in the Red Sea. Not aggressive either. Waiting to see these Titan Triggers come after me in nesting season. Where can that be had?

 

[Albion]

yes he is that close, sorry for quality took this off my video

 

[Albion]

mid attack

 

[Albion]

Slightly smaller than the titan, and seems a bit more bark than bite compared to the Titan this one just buzzed me and entire dive group for swimming over his nest. No bites though, think we would not be quite so lucky with mr Titan