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Bonefish Fish Identification, its habitats, characteristics, fishing methods.
Renowned by anglers for their wariness and fighting spirit, bonefish are stealthy and speedy residents of
the shallow bays, inshore marine waters. As adults, they frequent shallow flats, occupying seagrass beds,
sandy bottoms, and, occasionally, hard bottoms. They are often found in quiet backwaters along
mangrove-fringed areas. They eat a variety of food, including small crabs, snails, worms, shrimp, and
other crustaceans, as well as toadfish. They frequently feed along the bottom and, in the process of
grubbing in silt and sand, may incidentally ingest plant matter. They spawn offshore, eggs hatching into
ribbon-like larvae that metamorphose into fish-like form at about 2 inches and move inshore. Bonefish are
a major target of sport anglers.
More knowledge about the fish can surely help you to increase your catch. Better knowing and understanding
the feeding and spawning habits will make you a more successful angler and will help to catch fish
considerably.
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Bonefish � (Albula vulpes), also known as: Banana Fish, Grubber, Ladyfish, Phantom, and Silver
Ghost. Bonefish is a common name for a fish belonging to either of two species of the family
Albulidae. �Albula vulpes� is widespread in warm, shallow marine waters, and �Dixonina nemoptera� is
found only in the West Indies. Worldwide, bonefish occur in coastal and inland waters of tropical
seas.
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Description
The bonefish is silvery in color with bluish or greenish back; slender, round body, with a
long, deeply forked tail and a single dorsal fin; it has a pointed head covered by a thick, transparent
cartilage and a receding mouth filled with numerous small rounded teeth. Dark streaks run in between the
rows of scales, predominantly on the dorsal side of the body. The dorsal and caudal fins have dusky
margins. Bonefish have no spines. Juvenile bonefish exhibit a series of nine dark crossbands on their
backs. These bands extend nearly to the lateral line, with the third band crossing at the origin of the
dorsal fin. Bands four and five are found under the posterior base of the dorsal fin.
Dixonina nemoptera is distinguished by two long trailing filaments, one extending from its
dorsal fin and one from its anal fin. 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. Also known as ladyfish and banana fish, the bonefish may
reach 3.5 ft (107 cm) in length, and 18 lb (8 kg) in weight.
Habitat and Habits
The bonefish is primarily inshore fish inhabiting shallows of the Florida Keys, also found
in shallows often less than 1 foot deep, usually over lush grass flats, occasionally over white sand.
Occurs worldwide in shallow coastal tropical and subtropical island waters around flats and intertidal
areas, travels in loose schools; roots out shrimp, shellfish, crabs, and fish from the bottom. 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. It is a bottom dweller of shallow, sandy areas where it feeds on
crabs, shrimps, 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.
Bonefish forage primarily on the flats, entering shallow water on rising tides. While in
motion, schooling bonefish travel at the same speed and at a constant distance from each other. When
feeding, the bonefish disperse slightly from the school but will reunite if frightened, again traveling in
a patterned formation. Bonefish do not always travel in schools, but may also be found singly or in pairs.
Schools of similar sized fish may consist of 4-6 individuals, or may number in the tens or hundreds.
The bonefish uses its conical snout to dig through the benthos to root up its prey, which it crushes and
grinds with its powerful pharyngeal teeth. Bonefish feed on benthic and epibenthic prey, often in water
less than 30 cm (12 inches) in depth.
Spawning
Bonefish spawning occurs year round. Sexual maturity is reached at two years and near ripe
females may be as small as 9 inches (25 cm). In the Florida Keys, bonefish spawn in deep water where
currents can easily disperse the developing eggs and larvae to other locations. Bonefish are less
reproductively active during the hotter summer months, while spawning peaks from November through May or
June. Female producing from 400,000 to 1.7 million eggs. The heavier and older the fish, the more eggs she
will produce.
The eggs hatch into larvae called leptocephali, strange-looking, transparent creatures with large eyes and
a ribbonlike body. Bonefish leptocephali look like tiny eels with forked tails. Although similar in
appearance to tarpon larvae, bonefish leptocephali reach a larger maximum size of about 2.5
inches�although tarpon will far surpass bonefish in size as adults. The larval phase lasts from 41 to 71
days. When the larvae transform to juveniles, each individual looks like a tiny bona fide bonefish and
will take up residence in the shallows, where it will spend most of its life.
Bonefish grow rapidly for 5 to 6 years of their life, after which their growth rate slows considerably.
Males reach sexual maturity at a younger age and smaller size than females. Males mature at an average of
3.6 years of age and 17.4 inches. Females reach maturity at about 4.2 years and 18.8 inches.
Fishing Methods include drift, still
fishing, plug, fly fishing or spin casting from a skiff or white wading on tidal flats, using shrimp,
crabs, bait cats, plugs, spoons or similar baits. Most bonefish are caught in depths from 6 inches to 10
ft. (15 cm to 3 m). They are powerful and run very fast and hard when hooked. 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 popular as table fare.
Bonefish can be caught any time of day, tailing fish are most likely to be spotted in the
early morning or evening. In the winter, bonefish
are not as numerous in the shallows, and deeper waters are a better choice for the angler. Live shrimp and
crabs make good bonefish bait, but bonefish also respond to flies and artificial lures. They also can be
enticed to bite by anglers chumming with chopped shrimp. Casting is another test of the angler�s skill;
casting too close to a fish will send it scurrying, whereas a line dropped too far away will never get its
attention.
Once hooked, a bonefish makes a mad dash for deeper water, often breaking the line on rocks
or corals as it streaks across the bottom. Most anglers use 10-pound test line on bonefish.
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