[1] Populations in the Atlantic Ocean range from New York down to the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, the Caribbean Sea and down to Brazil in the western side.

[1] Around the eastern Atlantic Ocean, it ranges from the British Isles and the Bay of Biscay to Azores, the Canary Islands and western Africa.

[1] The spotted oceanic triggerfish inhabits warm waters high in biodiversity, characterized by strong surface currents and upwelling systems (Lezama-Ochoa et al., 2016).

It can be found on deep slopes right offshore, open water (Matsuura, 2001) and under fish aggregating devices (FADs) where they have been seen in groups of hundreds or thousands (Taquet et al., 2007).

Additionally, they have been recorded as visitors of cleaning stations hosted by the black-nosed butterflyfish, Johnrandallia nigrirostris, and the Mexican hogfish, Bodianus diplotaenia, at Malpelo island in tropical eastern pacific (Quimbayo et al., 2016).

Spotted oceanic triggerfish display plasticity in their eating habits, being considered either a carnivorous or a planktivorous fish.

The oceanic triggerfish falls prey to large pelagic fish such as the Indo-Pacific Sailfish (Varghese et al., 2013), the dolphinfish (Mahi-mahi) (Oxenford et al., 1999), and sea birds such as Streaked Shearwaters which are found in Japan (Matsumoto et al., 2012).

They are typically nonaggressive, shy, and easily scared away from their nests when confronted by bigger fish such as the titan triggerfish, and divers.

After incubation, the larvae hatch during the night and immediately swim towards the surface in a likely attempt to avoid discovery by potential predators.

In the open ocean, larvae and juveniles aggregate around FADs such as Sargassum, floating seaweed, and other debris until adulthood (Clark et al., 2014).