Orange-lined triggerfish
species of fish
The orange-lined triggerfish (Balistapus undulatus), also known as the orangestripe triggerfish, red-lined triggerfish, striped triggerfish or vermiculated triggerfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Balistidae, the triggerfishes. This species is the only species in the monospecific genus Balistapus, which is closely related to the genus Balistoides, if that genus is reclassified as a monospecific genus with the clown triggerfish as its only species. The orange-lined triggerfish has a wide Indo-Pacific range.
Taxonomy
The orange-lined triggerfish was first described as Balistes aculeatus minor in 1775 by the Swedish explorer, naturalist and orientalist Peter Forsskål but this name was never in common usage and it has been recommended that an application be made to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to have this name suppressed under Article 23.2 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. The name in widespread and common usage which should be preserved under Article 23.2 is Balistes undulatus, a name given to this taxon by the Scottish explorer Mungo Park in 1797. Park gave the type locality of B. undulatus as Bengkulu Province in Sumatra, Indonesia. In 1820 Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau described Balistapus capistratus, classifying it a new monospecific genus, Balistapus. Tilesius's B. capistratus is now considered to be a synonym of Park's Balistes undulatus. The orange-lined triggerfish has tentatively been found to be closely related to Balistoides conspicillum, with the genus Balistoides being found to be polyphyletic. The genus Balistapus belongs to the family Balistidae which is classified within the suborder Balistoidei.
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