The Smooth Trunkfish (Lactophrys triqueter) is a curiously cute little fish. It belongs to the boxfish family (see Honeycomb Cowfish), which means it too has a hard exoskeleton made up on interlocking hexagonal plates. It’s those little lips that makes it so cute, and the way it hovers around using its pectoral fins for stabilisation a little bit like a luna lander making tiny correctional shifts to ensure a smooth touch down.
Smooth Trunkfish are normally solitary but sometimes move around in small groups. They use their cute protuberant lips to expel a jet of water which disturbs the sandy seabed and reveal any shallowly buried benthic invertebrates. They feeds on small molluscs, worms, crustaceans, sponges and tunicate. What an amazing diet! They definitely get their five a day!
Originally posted on Instagram @sea_anguilla with the text: A Smooth Trunkfish looking exceptionally cute with it’s really cubby little lips. Probably one of the most chilled out species of fish, this little guy hung around for ages pretending to be interested in something while I snapped away with my camera. If I could be friends with a fish, these amiable little things would come top of my list.