Pale with a dark reticulated pattern and yellow fin margins. Jaws built for breaking urchins, and a nest it will defend.
To about 60 cm, pale with a dark reticulated pattern, yellow margins to the fins and a yellow-lipped mouth. It is one of the largest triggerfish and it is separated from the titan triggerfish by the pale ground colour and the finer pattern.
Same nesting behaviour as the rest of the large triggerfish, and it should be given the same respect: a female guarding a nest defends the water above it and will charge and bite, and the bite is serious because the jaws are built for breaking urchins and coral. Leave sideways rather than upward. Away from a nest it is not a problem and it is one of the more approachable large fish on a reef.
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.