Balistes

Balistes is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Balistidae, the triggerfishes. The triggerfishes in this genus are found in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Ocean.

==Taxonomy== Balistes was first proposed as a genus by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae publishes in 1758. In 1865 Pieter Bleeker designated Balistes veluta as the type species of the genus. When he described B. veluta Linnaeus gave its type locality as Ascension Island. This genus is the type genus of the family Balistidae, which is classified in the suborder Balistoidei in the order Tetraodontiformes.