All fish / Balistidae

Queen Triggerfish

Balistes vetula

Also known as queen trigger, old wife, old wench, turbot, oldwife triggerfish, cuckold, クイーントリガー, クイーントリガーフィッシュ, 女王炮弹, 妪鳞鲀

This is a large, deep-bodied triggerfish with blue-green and yellow tones, bright blue lines across the face and long, trailing tips on the fins and tail. It is kept for its colour and its bold, interactive character, and it often learns to recognise whoever feeds it.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Aggressive

Adult size

40 cm

Temperature

23 to 27 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

1500 litres

Keep as

Keep singly

Diet

Carnivore: shellfish, squid, shrimp, crab, sea urchins and other hard-shelled foods

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

10 to 15 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western and eastern Atlantic: Canada to Brazil incl. Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico; Azores, Ascension to Angola

Breeding

In the wild, males guard territories and pairs lay eggs in a nest dug out of sand, which they defend fiercely. It has not been reliably bred in home aquariums.

Good to know

It grows large and becomes aggressive, eating invertebrates and attacking smaller tank mates, so it is not reef safe and needs a very big tank with strong filtration. Its teeth are strong and it can bite during tank maintenance; IUCN lists it as Near Threatened.