Behavior
The rather bizarre anatomy of the triggerfishes reflects their typical diet of slow-moving, bottom dwelling crustaceans, mollusks, sea urchins and other echinoderms, generally creatures with protective shells and spines. Many will also take small fishes and some, notably the members of the genus Melichthys, feed on algae. A few, for example the redtoothed triggerfish (Odonus niger), mainly feed on plankton. They are known to exhibit a level of intelligence that is unusual among fishes, and have the ability to learn from previous experiences.
Some triggerfish species can be quite aggressive when guarding their eggs. Both the picasso (Rhinecanthus aculeatus) and titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) viciously defend their nests against intruders, including scuba divers and snorkelers. Their territory extends in a cone from the nest toward the surface, so swimming upwards can put a diver further into the fishes' territory; a horizontal swim away from the nest site is best when confronted by an angry triggerfish. Unlike the relatively small picasso triggerfish, the titan triggerfish poses a serious threat to inattentive divers due to its large size and powerful teeth.
Triggerfish are notorious bait stealers; rather than swallowing a bait whole, they nibble off small bites of it, making a small, stout hook essential to success in hooking them. Accordingly, the best baits are tough strips of fish skin, squid mantle etc.
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