Grey Triggerfish

The grey triggerfish lives at depths of 10 to 100 metres individually or in loose groups over rocky bottoms and seagrass beds. Grey triggerfish are solid blue-grey, blue-green, olive or brownish.

The unpaired fins bear small light blue spots. The fish grow to a length of 60 centimetres.

You can regularly see triggerfish on dives at Zenobia Wreck. Animals of impressive size now live here.

Grey triggerfish feed on bottom invertebrates, especially mussels, snails and various crustaceans. The triggerfish is one of the few fish that help against sea urchins. Its teeth are perfect for cracking hard shells. To find its prey, it swirls up the sediment with a jet of water from its mouth to see if there is anything underneath. If it is a starfish, for example, it is picked up and dropped until it lies upside down and defenceless.

To reproduce, the males dig small pits and wait for a female to lay the spawn in them. However, the females are choosy. Only clean nests of handsome males are used. After fertilisation, the female guards the eggs and provides them with fresh water, while the male patrols the territory to keep enemies away. After 50-55 days, the larvae hatch and are carried away by the current. In the Mediterranean, breeding of the grey triggerfish takes place in summer.

To sleep, the triggerfish can place the horn on its forehead and wedge itself into rock crevices to be protected from predators.

However, they are also considered tasty food fish.

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grey triggerfisch, marine life, padi divecenter cyprus, private guided scuba