Triggerfish: why do these fish have a “human mouth”? (7 photos)

Almost any triggerfish could easily become the star of an expensive lip surgery clinic. Well, just look at these neat shapes! Only all the beauty of fish is natural, natural, from Mother Nature itself. But why? Is it really also fashionable among marine life to swim like this?







If you close your eyes and kiss, you won’t even notice the dirty trick...

Triggerfish, triggerfish, or, as English-speaking scientists aptly call them, triggerfish, are a family of about 40 species. Most representatives are medium-sized fish, from 20 to 50 centimeters. But when it comes to color variations, triggerfish have no equal! You won’t find any kind: plain ones with an elegant metallic sheen, speckled ones, striped ones, and ones that look like they were decorated by a hungover child. All this diversity is not pretentiousness, but a necessity: most brightly colored individuals live among the coral reefs of the world's oceans. And there - the more you look like Lady Gaga, the higher the chance of getting lost.



It’s not my fault that you are so boring and afraid of experimenting with your appearance!

But it was not the brightness of the color that attracted us to the triggerfish. And their plump lips! The fish use their unusual, almost human-like mouthparts to hunt armored bottom creatures. The fleshy labial part of the pug protects fish from sharp fragments of shells and thorns, and strong teeth easily crush sea urchins, stars, crabs and other small fry. No conspiracy theories, pure biology!





What do I dream about before going to the dentist?

This is usually what triggerfish do: all day long they comb the bottom in search of food. Sometimes they can move stones for the sake of a tasty treat, maybe someone is hiding there. And everything would be fine, but if you trigger the fish, it won’t seem enough!



While the diver was looking out for sharks, he was attacked by a much greater threat!

Fish don’t need many reasons to attack; it’s enough just to swim near their territory, and, God forbid, not far from the spawning ground! The size of the invader does not bother the triggerfish at all; the fish even attack scuba divers. Interestingly, triggerfish consider “their” territory not only the space at the bottom, but also the entire thickness of the water. So you may not even know or see that you have invaded the domain of an evil fish - but he will already notice you. It’s easy to guess that it’s pointless to swim away from it!



In principle, the film “Jaws” could have been made with this fish.

Let’s not dig into why the triggerfish need so much space; they won’t pay taxes on housing anyway. It’s better to talk about how these fish share family responsibilities. The mating season of different types of triggerfish depends on water temperature, lighting and current. Before spawning, the male and female perform simple rituals: they swim near each other, prepare a “nest” in the form of a hole in the sand, after which she spawns eggs, and he fertilizes them. Well, then something amazing begins: triggerfish do not leave their fish, but remain to protect them. Moreover, both parents watch the clutch!



Marriageable groom.

The list of parental responsibilities includes scaring away predators and flushing the eggs with water to saturate them with oxygen. It is noteworthy that from one to ten females can spawn in the territory of one male. And he needs to take care of the offspring of each. Now it’s clear why these fish are so hot-tempered!



Listen, hedgehog, get out of here.

Today, the triggerfish family represents a very wide field for research. The secrets of many species and subspecies have not yet been unraveled, behavior has not been studied, habits have not been recognized. And this despite the fact that many triggerfish are now kept as pets. Only a strong character does not allow you to have more than one fish per aquarium. But this is even more interesting, because the owner will be lucky enough to observe the remarkable intelligence of these amazing creatures. Some aquarists note that triggerfish can remember their owners and learn from their experiences. So much for stupid fish!