DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

ZOOGEOGRAPHY

ECOLOGY

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

VALUE OF FISH RESOURCES

CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT

DANGEROUS MARINE FISHES

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SPECIES INDEX

CHAMORRO NAMES

BALISTIDAE (TRIGGERFISHES)

Balistapus undulatus (Park)
(Undulate Triggerfish, Orange-lined Triggerfish; Pulonon)
SL: to 23 cm (photo: 14 cm SL, Hap's Reef, Agat, 14 m)

This is one of the most frequently seen triggerfishes in coral reef habitats in clear water of the outer reef slope, from below the surge zone to at least 40 m, and it is occasionally seen in clear, coral-rich moats and lagoons.  It feeds on almost anything including fleshy and coralline algae, corals, crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, and fishes.  It may be solitary or in small groups.  It lays demersal eggs in adhesive clusters on rubble or in craters excavated in sand patches and may spawn in groups.  It is territorial and has one of the nastiest dispositions of all aquarium fishes, often ending up in a tank by itself.

INDO-PACIFIC: Red Sea to Mangareva and the Marquesas, n. to s. Japan; s. to New Caledonia.