Large white belly spots and a yellow mouth; the least numerous of the triggerfishes here.
To about 50 cm, black with large round white spots across the lower half of the body, a yellow-orange band around the mouth, a yellow patch on the back covered in fine black reticulation, and yellow markings around the eye. Juveniles are black with white spots over the whole body and yellow speckling on the back, and live deeper than adults.
It occupies steep outer slopes and drop-offs and feeds on hard-shelled prey — urchins, crabs, molluscs — using heavy teeth. It is far less numerous than the other triggerfishes here and is generally solitary. It keeps a steady distance from divers and turns away from a direct approach, so a sighting is often one pass. Nesting fish are territorial in the manner of other triggerfishes. Recorded from about 5 to 50 m.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.