Starry triggerfish
Abalistes stellatus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Starry triggerfish
- Scientific
- Abalistes stellatus
- Dhivehi
- ތަރި ރޮނޑުThari rondu
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 60 cm (total length); commonly 40 cm (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 60 cm
- Depth and habitat
- On or near the bottom, recorded from 7 to 350 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2022
Description
A triggerfish with a grey-olive body overlaid with yellow and many small pale spots, three whitish saddles on the back (fading in large fish) and yellow pectoral fins; adults have trailing tips on both lobes of the tail. It swims high above sand, sponge and weed bottoms, usually in deeper water, and feeds on bottom-living invertebrates.
In the Maldives
MRS (1997) gives than rondu, which the Dhivehi Wikipedia Thaana (thari rondu) shows to be an OCR error. MRS notes it is not often seen because it lives fairly deep, and appears commonest in the atoll basins.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Abalistes-stellatus.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ތަރި_ރޮނޑު
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Abalistes_stellatus.jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Thari rondu' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ތަރި ރޮނޑު' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form. FLAG: the source states no traditional name was recorded and this descriptive name was coined for the book; it is not an established fishermen's name.