The name in widespread and common usage which should be preserved under Article 23.2 is Balistes undulatus, a name given to this taxon by the Scottish explorer Mungo Park in 1797.

[6] The orange-lined triggerfish is the only member of the monotypic genus Balistapus, a name which suffixes -a, meaning "without" and pus, which means "foot" onto Balistes, as Park described it as being without pelvic fins, but like all triggerfishes, the pelvic fins are hidden in the skin and joined together to form a spine ending in very short rays, but in this taxon reduced to a bump on the ventral surface.

[11] While other balistoid fishes, such as the filefish and leatherjacks, are typically found all across the Indo-western Pacific, the triggerfish are typically found in coral reefs ecosystems, coral lagoons, and external reef slopes within this area, as well off the coast of East Africa, the Red Sea, and Japan.

[10][14] This species in particular, given its broad diet and distribution, is a crucial component in coral reef ecosystems through top-down control and especially through consumption of sea-urchins.

The orange-lined triggerfish is a main and dominant predator of the burrowing urchin (Echinometra mathaei) in East African marine parks.

[16] In these ecosystems, the burrowing sea urchin affects coral reef health, the presence of other grazers and algae, and erosion.

[16] With all three of these influences intertwined, the burrowing sea urchin has the ability to degrade coral reef ecosystems if they are not being controlled by predators, such as the orange-lined triggerfish.

[16] The orange-lined triggerfish prefers parts of the reef where there are a lot of places to hide and are able to slide sideways into crevices or small openings to evade predation.