Rough triggerfish

About this species

Canthidermis maculata, also known as rough triggerfish or spotted oceanic triggerfish, is a species of triggerfish native to the tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Unlike most triggerfish, they are mostly pelagic.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Canthidermis maculata”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 28 records
February: 41 records
March: 91 records
April: 50 records
May: 32 records
June: 42 records
July: 95 records
August: 48 records
September: 52 records
October: 59 records
November: 39 records
December: 98 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–24 m · Deepest record: 3,658 m

0–10 m: 195 records
10–20 m: 183 records
20–30 m: 103 records
30–40 m: 7 records
40–50 m: 4 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 38 records
26–28 °C: 629 records
28–30 °C: 299 records

Photos

(c) BEDO (Thailand), some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Elizabeth Paley, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Ashwit Shetty, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kai Murphy, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Manidip Mandal, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Carlos Domínguez-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Micha Baum, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Rough triggerfish, Rough trigger-fish, Oceanic Triggerfish, Ocean Triggerfish, Ocean turbot, Pelagic triggerfish, Rough Tiggerfish, rough trigger-fish, rough triggerfish, Rough Trigger-fish, Rough Triggerfish, Spotted oceanic triggerfish, Spotted Triggerfish, Spotted Triggerfish, Ocean triggerfish, Rough triggerfish, Spotted oceanic triggerfish, Triggerfish, White-spotted Triggerfish, Whitespotted Triggerfish

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Cachúa, Calafate Áspero, cochito manchado, Peje Chancho, Pez Puerco, Puerco, Puerco Áspero, Puerco Espinoso, sobaco manchado
French: Baliste rude, Baliste tacheté
Japanese: Amimongara, アミモンガラ
Simplified Chinese: 剝皮魚, 斑點砲彈, 疣板機魨, 疣鱗魨, 黑砲彈

Other scientific names: Balistes adspersus, Balistes americanus, Balistes angulosus, Balistes azureus, Balistes brevissimus, Balistes longissimus, Balistes longus, Balistes macropterus, Balistes maculatus, Balistes melanopterus, Balistes minimum, Balistes munumum, Balistes oculatus, Balistes rufus, Balistes senticosus, Balistes um, Canthidermis longirostris, Canthidermis maculatus, Canthidermis senticosus, Canthidermis viola

Similar species

Flat-tailed Trigger-fish
Abalistes stellatus
Orange-lined triggerfish
Balistapus undulatus
Black Triggerfish
Sufflamen chrysopterum
Black durgon
Melichthys niger
Pinktail triggerfish
Melichthys vidua
Clown triggerfish
Balistoides conspicillum

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
25,567 open-data records from 1786 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.