Species: Balistoides conspicillum, Clown triggerfish

Balistoides conspicillum (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Clown triggerfish

Body oblong, robust, compressed; cheeks with well developed longitudinal grooves; distinct groove before eye and below nostril; a small mouth that opens at the front, with powerful jaws made up of 8 heavy, outer teeth on the upper and lower jaws, teeth notched, uneven in size; gill opening a short slit on side before pectoral base; dorsal fin III, 1st  can be locked erect, 2nd  > ½ the size of 1st, 25-27; anal fin 21-22; soft dorsal and anal of uniform height, not higher at front; most rays of dorsal, anal and pectoral fins branched; pectoral 14;  3-4 rows of forward-pointing spines on tail base, extending slightly forwards on body; tail rounded; pelvic fins externally reduced to 4 pairs of large scales encasing end of pelvis; thick leathery skin, with regularly arranged diagonal scale plates; snout completely scaled; cheeks entirely scaled; a group of large, partly separated bony scales that form a thick membrane immediately behind gill opening; body scales small, 39-50 along side; lateral line inconspicuous.

Black upper body, a yellowish patch densely covered with irregular small black spots on front of back; lower body with large round white blotches separated by black lines; head black, chest white or black with large white spots; a yellow to white bar crossing snout under eyes, mouth surrounded by orange-yellow; spinous dorsal fin black; soft dorsal and anal fins with yellow to orange bases, whitish centers; tail fin black with a cream to white bar down center. Juvenile body black, with large round white spots; snout yellow, a yellow blotch on nape.

Reaches 50 cm

Normally lives on outer edges of outer reefs

Depth range 1-105 m.

Indo-central Pacific: introduced to Florida.