ocean triggerfish
Canthidermis sufflamen (Mitchill, 1815)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Canthidermis sufflamen (Mitchill, 1815) - ocean triggerfish. Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Actinopterygii, Tetraodontiformes, Balistidae Locality: west of Bamboo Point, northern Fernandez Bay, western margin of San Salvador Island, eastern Bahamas
James St. John · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Canthidermis sufflamen, the ocean triggerfish, is a species of pelagic triggerfish that can be found throughout the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, with its range extending as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as Brazil.
Canthidermis sufflamen is gray in color, oval-shaped, and can often be distinguished from the similar-appearing gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) by the presence of a black blotch at the base of each pectoral fin.
Wikipedia contributors, Canthidermis sufflamen; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:43:07.514698+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Canthidermis sufflamen (Mitchill, 1815)
- Name authority
- (Mitchill, 1815)
- Common name
- ocean triggerfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Tetraodontiformes
- Family
- Balistidae
- Genus
- Canthidermis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderTetraodontiformes
- suborderBalistoidei
- familyBalistidae Rafinesque, 1810
- genusCanthidermis Swainson, 1839
- speciesCanthidermis sufflamen (Mitchill, 1815)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Canthidermis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Canthidermis macrolepis (Boulenger, 1888) | BalistidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| rough trigger-fishCanthidermis maculata (Bloch, 1786) | BalistidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Canthidermis willughbeii (Lay & Bennett, 1839) | BalistidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Canthidermis sabaco (Poey, 1860) (Poey, 1860) | synonym |
| Balistes asperrimus Cope, 1871 Cope, 1871 | synonym |
| Balistes sobaco Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | synonym |
| Balistes sufflamen Mitchill, 1815 Mitchill, 1815 | synonym |
| Balistes macrops Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=127399 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:QN8Q. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.