Orangeside Triggerfish

How it lives

The orangeside triggerfish is common around rocky reefs along the coast. It eats sea urchins, small crabs and other crustaceans, and mollusks, and it often blows into the sand to uncover them. The female guards the eggs by herself and defends the spot around them. A male mates with several females.

Where it normally lives

Isla de Cedros in central Baja California to Ecuador, including the central Gulf of California and the Galapagos.

The orangeside triggerfish lives from Isla de Cedros, off central Baja California, south to Ecuador, including the central Gulf of California and the Galapagos. La Jolla is about 330 miles north of Isla de Cedros in a straight line. It lives from about 6 feet to about 154 feet deep.

Range source: Love and colleagues, 2021 checklist of Pacific coast fishes · Mexican Fish.com · FishBase

In California

On November 6, 2026, Charlotte Seid photographed an orangeside triggerfish beside a rock ledge at Main Wall in the La Jolla Canyon and logged it on iNaturalist. She first suggested a finescale triggerfish, and 4 other people placed it as an orangeside. On November 8, an iNaturalist user who goes by sm98 logged another off the coast of San Diego County.

The 2021 checklist of Pacific coast fishes by Milton Love and colleagues has no California record of the species, and iNaturalist held none before these 2.