Bonefishes

The bonefishes are a family (Albulidae) of ray-finned fish 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 12 species in two genera.

Presently, the bonefishes are in their own order: Albuliformes /ˌælbjʊlᵻˈfɔːrmiːz/. The spiny eels (Notacanthidae) and halosaurs (Halosauridae) were previously classified in this order, but are now, according to FishBase, given their own order, Notacanthiformes. The largest bonefish caught in the Western Hemisphere is a 16 pound, 3 ounce example caught off Islamorada, Florida, on March 19, 2007.

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, and bonefishes lack the tarpons' protruding snout. Like tarpons and ladyfishes, bonefishes can breathe air via a modified swim bladder, and are found in brackish waters. Bonefish larvae are leptocephalic.