Are triggerfish this aggressive?

[k374]

Had a strange dive today in Koh Tao, White rock site. Was exploring a reef when my DMT (Dive Master in Training that was leading the dive!) goes into some sort of panic mode. I am wondering why the heck he is behaving like this when he frantically points to an approaching Triggerfish and motions for me to get away. Now, I have dived close to Triggerfish many times in places like Cozumel without any issues at all so this is rather surprising to me. I do move back and out of the area but he later tells me that a Triggerfish was on full scale attack mode in my direction without me realizing it. This is news to me but I did read more on the web and it seems this species is very territorial.

Has anyone been attacked by Triggerfish? What kind of damage can this species really do? I see it's teeth are pretty SHARP! LOL!

 

[Cave Diver]

Yeah the little buggers can get pretty aggressive. I've heard of several people being bitten pretty badly and one person even lost part of their ear lobe. They seem more territorial in some places than others. Around oil rigs in the Gulf they seem much more aggressive than I've seen them in the Caribbean. Might be due to less available area for them to call home.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Lots of fish are territorial ... just that some territorial fish can do more damage than others.

I was surprised to find out how aggressive clownfish can be ... :shocked2: ... now whenever I watch Finding Nemo, I cheer for the barracuda ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Searcaigh]

I have seen a Titan Triggerfish, Balistoides viridescens , attack a friend of mine who approached too close to the nest area.

It more or less rammed him, did not bite.

After the dive he had a bruise about 2.5cm / 1 in where it hit him on the upper chest, can't remember now if he was wearing a wetsuit or not

This was in the Red Sea off Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

 

[drbill]

I was told that in Tahiti the locals feared the triggerfish more than sharks. Of course it all depends on the species. Ours (finescale) is afraid of humans.

Others can be extremely territorial when defending their nest and may attack anyone who enters an inverted cone extending from the nest towards the surface.

 

[Ste Wart]

Titan Triggerfish seem to be the most aggressive; normally the females. They will protect the egg patch in a cone shaped territory that extends upwards from the eggs. Basically if you are attacked don't swim up.
In Malaysia, more specifically Tioman island the Triggers seem to be more aggressive in March, and then calm down. This must be the egg-laying month.
Although I've been repeatedly charged by the same trigger year round. He must have taken a dislike to me.

 

[under water]

Bill,
I have wondered about this inverted cone theory. It doesn't really make sense to me. It implies that a predator on the bottom can get really close but a passerby far above them is a target of their defensive behaviour. Wouldn't it make more sense from an evolutionary perspective that their protective zone is a bubble (dome) out from their nest rather than a cone going up to the surface?

 

[Midget]

I've been attacked twice. Once at Sipadan. Once at Menjangan Bali. I saw one coming. The other I didn't.....got blind-sided by the nasty bugger.

They are very aggressive when they are protecting a nest.
But some of them seem to just be extra nasty and attack divers at will.

Swim backward with your fins towards them when they're attacking or they might take a chunk out of you. They actually hit pretty hard.

One of my divemasters at Sipadan told a story about a woman that was intent on taking pics of a Titan. It attacked and degloved her scalp. Game over!

 

[Damselfish]

I think it depends on the species of trigger and location, never seen it happen in the Caribbean. I was once attacked by a Titan in the Maldives, and for sure no one had told it about that inverted cone thing. Doesn't really make sense to me either, I wonder if it's just erroneous information repeated so many times its become "truth."

 

[DevonDiver]

Koh Tao has more than its fair share of Titan Triggers. Some of them can be very aggressive during the nesting season. The fact that they are often 'provoked' by over-zealous videographers - looking to capture a triggger attack on cam - doesn't help matters.

Titan Triggers allegedly have a cone shaped territory that rises from their nest up to the surface. This makes sense to me - as I have seen divers chased virtually up the surface by them. They will threaten and chase any large intruder (i.e. a diver) out of that territory. When they 'display' territorially (raise their 'trigger' fin and move erratically) you should swim away from them. Swim horizontally away and you will leave their 'cone' nesting territory quickly. If you swim upwards, they will chase you for longer.

Their level of aggression often seems to be determined by the way that the diver reacts. I've been attacked several times (Koh Tao and Sipidan) and I have always noted that if you fin calmly away, they are invariably content to just swim behind you and 'posture' by zig-zagging behind your feet and making dummy 'attack runs'. In contrast, if you kick your fins like mad to get away quickly, they see this as some sort of counter-display... and it goads them into actually making an attack and biting your fins.

The only real danger with Titan Trigger fish is if you don't see them coming. This can lead to a charge..and ramming/biting, because you've failed to exit their nesting zone and heed their warning. A bite from a Titan Trigger could easily require stitches.

If you know that Triggers are in nesting season... it definitely pays to maintain a good situational awareness so that you can spot them, acknowledge their territorial threat display and leave the area before an attack occurs.