Albulidae is a
family of
fish, commonly known as the bonefishes, that are popular as
game fish in
Florida, select locations in the South
Pacific and the
Bahamas (where two bonefish are featured on the 10-cent coin) and elsewhere. The family is small, with 11
species in 3 genera.[2] Presently, the bonefishes are in their own
order: Albuliformes/ˈælbjəlɪfɔːrmiːz/. The families
Halosauridae and
Notacanthidae were previously classified in this order,[5] but are now, according to
FishBase, given their own order
Notacanthiformes.[6] The largest bonefish caught in the Western Hemisphere is a 16-pound, 3 ounce example caught off
Islamorada, Florida, on March 19, 2007.[7]
Description
Albula
The bonefishes' closest relatives are the
tarpons and
ladyfishes in the order
Elopiformes. Bonefishes are unlike tarpons in that their mouths are under the snout rather than the end of it. Like tarpons and ladyfishes, bonefishes can breathe air via a modified
swim bladder and are found in
brackish waters. Bonefish
larvae are
leptocephalic.
The slender body of the bonefish is silver, with a blue to green tinted back. On the upper half of the body there are dark streaks with cross bands connecting to the
lateral line. The body is rounded with a long, slightly downturned snout. The
dorsal and
caudal fins are black. Bonefish vary in adult length from 40–100 cm depending on species. The average size of a bonefish is from 3 to 5 pounds (1–2 kg) with the Florida record being 16 pounds 3 oz (7.34 kg).[7]
The bonefishes are brackish or
saltwater fish typically living in
estuaries and travelling out to sea to spawn on a lunar cycle. They feed in the shallow sand and mud flats, on
benthic organisms, such as
worms,
mollusks,
shrimp and
crabs. They use their conical-shaped snouts to root out their prey and can often be seen with their tails out of the water. Bonefishes possess crushing teeth in their palates.
Nemoossis and Pterothrissus
These genera are similar to Albula, except they can be found in
deeper waters.
Taxonomy
Order Albuliformes Greenwood et al. 1966 sensu Forey et al. 1996 [Albuloidea Hay; Albuloidei; Albulina Günther 1868[5][8][9]
Genus †Albulelops Averjanov, Nesov & Udovichenko 1993
Genus †Eucoelogaster White & Moy-Thomas 1940 [Coelogaster Agassiz 1835 nomen nudum ; Coelogaster Eastman 1905 non Schrank 1780 non Schoenherr 1837 non Schultze 1896 ; Ptericephalina Lioy 1866 ]
Genus Albula Gronow 1763 ex Scopoli 1777 non Osbeck 1765 non Bloch & Schneider 1801 non Catesby 1771 [Atopichthys Garman 1899; Butyrinus Commerson ex Lacépède 1803; Dixonina Fowler 1911; Albula (Dixonina) (Fowler 1911); Esunculus Kaup 1856; Glossodonta Cuvier 1815; Glossodus Agassiz 1828 ex Spix & Agassiz 1829 non Costa 1853 non McCoy 1848; MetalbulaFrizzell 1965; Pisodus Owen 1841; Vulpis Catesby 1771; Conorynchus Nozemann 1758 ex Gill 1861 non Bleeker 1863 non Motschousky 1860
References
^Werner Schwarzhans (2018). "A review of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous otoliths and the development of early morphological diversity in otoliths". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen. 287 (1): 75–121.
doi:
10.1127/njgpa/2018/0707.
^
abHidaka, K., Tsukamoto, Y. & Iwatsuki, Y. (2016): Nemoossis, a new genus for the eastern Atlantic long-fin bonefish Pterothrissus belloci Cadenat 1937 and a redescription of P. gissu Hilgendorf 1877 from the northwestern Pacific. Ichthyological Research, 64 (1): 45–53.