Balistes

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Balistes vetula - 01.jpg | image_caption = ''Balistes vetula'' | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Late Oligocene|present|Late Oligocene to present<ref name=":0"/>}} | taxon = Balistes | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | type_species = ''Balistes vetula'' | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | synonyms = {{Genus list | Ballistes | Billberg, 1833 | Capriscus | Artedi, in Röse, 1793 | Capriscus | Rafinesque, 1810 | Nematobalistes | Fraser-Brunner, 1935 | Verrunculus | D. S. Jordan, 1924 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = CofF>{{Cof family|family=Balistidae|access-date=18 October 2024}}</ref> }}

'''''Balistes''''' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Balistidae, the triggerfishes. The triggerfishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Ocean.

==Taxonomy== ''Balistes'' was first proposed as a genus by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' publishes in 1758. In 1865 Pieter Bleeker designated ''Balistes veluta'' as the type species of the genus.<ref name = CofF/> When he described ''B. veluta'' Linnaeus gave its type locality as Ascension Island.<ref name = CofF2>{{Cof genus|genus=Balistes|access-date=18 October 2024}}</ref> This genus is the type genus of the family Balistidae, which is classified in the suborder Balistoidei in the order Tetraodontiformes.<ref name = ECoF>{{cite web |url=https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/catalog-of-fishes-classification/ |title=Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification |access-date=18 October 2024 |work=Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes |publisher=California Academy of Sciences}}</ref>

A 2016 study found that ''Balistes'' was non-monophyletic and stated that moving ''Pseudobalistes naufragium'' to ''Balistes naufragium'' while also moving ''Balistoides viridescens'' to ''Pseudobalistes viridescens'' results in ''Balistes'', ''Balistoides'' and ''Pseudobalistes'' being monophyletic.<ref name = McCord>{{cite journal|last1=McCord|first1=Charlene L.|last2=Westneat|first2=Mark W.|date=January 2016|title=Phylogenetic relationships and the evolution of BMP4 in triggerfishes and filefishes (Balistoidea)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=94|issue=Pt A|pages=397–409|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.014|pmid=26408967|doi-access=free|bibcode=2016MolPE..94..397M }}</ref>

==Etymology== ''Balistes'' triggerfishes have both a common name and a scientific name that refers to the first spine of the dorsal fin being locked in place by the erection of the shorter second trigger spine, and unlocked by depressing the second spine. ''Balistes'' is taken directly from the Italian ''pesca ballista'', the "crossbow fish". ''Ballista'' originally being a machine for throwing arrows.<ref name = ETYFFish>{{cite web |url=https://etyfish.org/tetraodontiformes2/ |title=Order TETRAODONTIFORMES: Families MOLIDAE, BALISTIDAE, MONACANTHIDAE, ARACANIDAE and OSTRACIIDAE |date=21 August 2024 |access-date=18 October 2024 |author=Christopher Scharpf |publisher=Christopher Scharpf}}</ref>

==Species== ''Balistes'' contains the following four valid extant species;<ref name = CofF2/> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Common name !! Distribution |- |120px || ''Balistes capriscus'' J. F. Gmelin, 1789 ||grey triggerfish||western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Argentina and also the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and off Angola on the west coast of Africa. |- |119x119px|| ''Balistes polylepis'' Steindachner, 1876 ||finescale triggerfish||Pacific Coast of the Americas from San Francisco southwards to Callao, Peru and the Galapagos. |- |120px || ''Balistes punctatus'' J. F. Gmelin, 1789 ||bluespotted triggerfish|| Eastern Atlantic. |- |120px || ''Balistes vetula'' Linnaeus, 1758 ||queen triggerfish||Western Atlantic, it ranges from Canada to southern Brazil, and in the eastern Atlantic it is found at Ascension, Cape Verde, Azores and south to Angola |- |}

===Fossil species=== [[File:Balistes dubius.png|thumb|203x203px|Life restoration of the extinct ''B. dubius''.]]The following fossil species are known:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36285 |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref> * †''Balistes crassidens'' Casier, 1958 (Early to Late Miocene of Trinidad & Cuba)<ref name=":0" /> * †''Balistes dubius'' (Münster, 1846) (Middle Miocene of Austria, Slovakia & the Czech Republic) (=''Balistes muensteri'' Schultz, 2004)<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Schultz |first=Ortwin |date=2004 |title=A Triggerfish (Osteichthyes: Balistidae: Balistes) from the Badenian (Middle Miocene) of the Vienna and the Styrian Basin (Central Paratethys) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41702085 |journal=Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie a für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie |volume=106A |pages=345–369 |jstor=41702085 |issn=0255-0091}}</ref> * †''Balistes lerichei'' Bauzá-Rullán, 1949 (Miocene of Spain, including Mallorca) * †''Balistes lopezi'' Mendiola & Martinez, 2003 (Late Miocene of Spain)<ref name=":1" /> * †''Balistes procapriscus'' Arambourg, 1927 (Late Miocene of Algeria) * †''Balistes vegai'' Lopez, Carr & Lorenzo, 2019 (Late Miocene of Cuba)<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Viñola Lopez |first1=Lazaro W. |last2=Carr |first2=Richard |last3=Lorenzo |first3=Logel |date=2020-10-20 |title=First occurrence of fossil ''Balistes'' (Tetradontiformes: Balistidae) from the Miocene of Cuba with the description of a new species and a revision of fossil ''Balistes'' |journal=Historical Biology |volume=32 |issue=9 |pages=1290–1299 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2019.1580278 |bibcode=2020HBio...32.1290V |issn=0891-2963}}</ref> Indeterminate remains are known from the Late Oligocene of Florida (US), the Early Miocene of Cuba, the Early Miocene of Costa Rica, the Early Miocene of Indonesia, the Middle Miocene of Poland, and the Late Miocene of Venezuela.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

''B. crassidens'' and ''B. vegai'', both known from fossilized teeth from the Miocene of the Caribbean, were very large species that may have reached up to {{Convert|1.8|m|ft}} total length, making them much larger than any living members of the family and the largest triggerfish known to have existed. The ecosystems they inhabited may have been more productive during this time period, allowing these species to reach such large sizes.<ref name=":0" />

==Characteristics== ''Balistes'' triggerfishes have robust, rather deep, compressed, oblong-shaped bodies. There is a clear groove which runs from below the eye to just above the nostril and a small, front opening mouth which contains strong jaws, There are 8 large outer teeth on each jaw while the teeth on the side of the jaw are notched with the largest side teeth in the centre. The gill slit is short and located in front of the base of the pectoral fin, The dorsal fin has 3 spines, the first spine is lockable in the erect position, the second spine is half the length of the first. The soft rays in the dorsal, anal and pectoral fins are branched. The caudal peduncle is laterally compressed and has no spines, tubercles or ridges on it. The pelvic fins are vestigial and consist of four scales forming a case for the end of the pelvis The skin is thick and leathery with plate-like scales that are arranged in regular diagonal rows. The snout is completely covered in scales. The large, bony scales behind the gill slit form a tympanum. The lateral line is difficult to discern.<ref name = STRI>{{Cite web |url=https://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/taxon/2395 |title=Genus: Balistes, Triggerfish, Triggerfishes |access-date=19 October 2024 |work=Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system |publisher=Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute}}</ref> These are moderately large fishes with the largest species being the finescale triggerfish (''B. polylepis'') with a maximum published total length of {{cvt|76|cm}}.<ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase genus|genus=Balistes|month=June|year=2024}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat== ''Balistes'' triggerfishes are found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, with three species, the grey triggerfish, bluespotted triggerfish and the queen triggerfish, in the Eastern Atlantic. Two of the Eastern Atlantic species, the grey and the queen triggerfishes, are also found in the Western Atlantic, and one species, the fine spotted triggerfish in the Eastern Pacific.<ref name=Matsuura2014>{{cite journal | last1 = Matsuura | first1 = Keiichi | year = 2014 | title = Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014 | url = https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs10228-014-0444-5.pdf | journal = Ichthyological Research | volume = 62 | issue = 1| pages = 72–113 | doi=10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5| s2cid = 15223867 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2015IchtR..62...72M }}</ref> If the stone triggerfish is included then this is also found in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.<ref name = Fishbase2>{{FishBase|Pseudobalistes|naufragium|month=June|year=2024}}</ref> These fishes are found at depths between {{cvt|0|and|200|m}} in coastal waters.<ref name = Fishbase3>{{FishBase|Balistes|punctatus|month=June|year=2024}}</ref>

==References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Balistes|''Balistes''}} * {{Wikispecies-inline}}

Category:Triggerfish Category:Balistes Category:Marine fish genera Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Extant Chattian first appearances