Halfmoon Triggerfish

Sufflamen chrysopterum

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Family: Balistidae
Genus: Sufflamen
Species: Sufflamen chrysopterum

The halfmoon triggerfish (Sufflamen chrysopterum) is a brown triggerfish with a pale crescent at the edge of its tail and, in many individuals, a white or yellowish bar behind the eye. Its belly is often bluish.

It grows to about 30 cm and feeds on small invertebrates, including crustaceans, worms and urchins, that it uncovers by blowing jets of water into the sand. It is usually solitary and wary, retreating to a crevice when approached.

The halfmoon triggerfish is found across the Indo-Pacific, including the Philippines, where it lives on reef flats, lagoons and rubble slopes.