Clown triggerfish
Amazing fact
The clown triggerfish uses powerful jaws and teeth to eat even long-spined sea urchins.
Waikīkī Aquarium
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The clown triggerfish uses powerful jaws and teeth to eat even long-spined sea urchins.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Clown triggerfish
- Scientific name
- Balistoides conspicillum
- Japanese name
- モンガラカワハギ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Order
- Tetraodontiformes
- Family
- Balistidae
- Genus
- Balistoides
It lives mainly on coral reefs and is found from the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan to islands such as Fiji and Samoa.
How the Clown triggerfish lives
It lives on clear seaward reefs in areas rich in coral. It swims by waving its dorsal and anal fins. At night, it uses its dorsal spine to wedge itself into a reef crevice to rest.
Waikīkī AquariumBasic data
- Range
- Indo-West Pacific, Fiji Islands, Samoa Islands, and elsewhere
Where the Clown triggerfish has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- モンガラカワハギ
- 简体中文
- 圆斑拟鳞鲀
- 繁體中文
- 花斑擬鱗魨
- 한국어
- 파랑쥐치
- Español
- Pez ballesta payaso
- Français
- Baliste clown
- Deutsch
- Leopard-Drückerfisch
- Português (Brasil)
- Cangulo-palhaço
- Italiano
- Pesce balestra pagliaccio
- العربية
- سمكة الزناد المهرجة
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Ikan kambing kembang
- Tiếng Việt
- Cá Bò gai vây
- Русский
- Крупнопятнистый спинорог
- ไทย
- ปลาวัวตัวตลก
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — モンガラカワハギChecked: 2026-11-04
- Waikīkī Aquarium — Clown TriggerfishChecked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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