(Linnaeus, 1758); ALBULIDAE FAMILY; also
called banana fish, phantom, silver ghost,
ladyfish, grubber
Occurs worldwide in shallow tropical and
subtropical waters around flats and
intertidal areas.
The dorsal fin consists of 17 19 soft rays.
The anal fin has 8 9 soft rays, the ventral
fins have 9, and the pectoral fins have 15
17. There are 65 73 scales along the lateral
line—none on the head. The sides and belly
of the fish are bright silver. Parts of the
fins and the snout may show a yellowish or
dusky color. Bonefish are basically
schooling fish. The smaller ones can be seen
in large schools on the flats. The larger
ones tend to form smaller schools or groups.
They feed on crabs, shrimp, clams, sea
worms, sea urchins, and small fish that
inhabit the sandy flats and intertidal
areas. They are often seen rooting in the
sand, their tails breaking the surface of
the shallow water; an action commonly known
as “trailing”. At other times they will
plough the bottom stirring up silt and marl,
known as “mudding”. They are powerful and
run very fast and hard when hooked. Fishing
methods include plug, fly or spin casting
from a skiff or while wading on tidal flats,
using shrimp, crabs or similar baits. Most
bonefish are caught in depths from 6 inches
to 10 ft (15 cm to 3 m).
This species begins life looking more like
an eel than a fish and undergoes a
leptocephalus larval stage during which it
grow to a length of about 2 ½ in (6.3 cm);
then during a period of metamorphosis the
eel like larva shrinks to half its former
size. As it shrinks, fins begin to appear,
and after 10 12 days the eel has become a
1.5 in (3.81 cm) miniature bonefish, and
begins to grow again. Tarpon and ladyfish
undergo similar stages of development. As
one might expect from the name, the bonefish
has an abundance of bones (some of which are
quite tiny), for which reason this fish is
less than popular as table fare.
