Trunk fish have an angular body shape with a pointed mouth and a fan-like tail. They are odd-shaped swimmers which is one of the reasons they are so adorable. They tend to be solitary creatures and eat benthic creatures using water jet streams from its mouth to dislodge them.
As juveniles, they are called "peas" because they are round and small. We saw a juvenile at our first location "Old Sweat" of the Keys, which was orange, adorable and hidden in some seagrass.
The smooth trunkfish tends to be light yellow or grey with white honeycomb shaped spots on its body. It has black coloration at the end of its caudal peduncle , its mouth, and at the base of its dorsal fin. They are usually small and can grow to be around 1 ft. We saw the smooth trunkfish along the coral reefs.
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| Photo from: http://reefguide.org/carib/pixhtml/smoothtrunk2.html |
Citations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_trunkfish
http://www.lesfruitsdemer.org/guides/wildlife/fish/smooth-trunkfish/
Atlantic Coast Fishes Peterson Field Guides by Robins/Ray/Douglass
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