Bonefishes

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Bonefishes
Temporal range: Kimmeridgian–0
O
S
D
C
P
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J
K
Pg
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Late Jurassic to Recent [1]
Bonefish Albula vulpes.jpg
Albula vulpes
Pterothrissus gissu1.jpg
Pterothrissus gissu
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Superorder: Elopomorpha
Order: Albuliformes
Greenwood, 1977
Family: Albulidae
Bleeker, 1859
Type species
Albula vulpes
Genera
Synonyms [3] [4]
  • Albulae Bleeker 1849
  • Butirini Bleeker 1851
  • Lemniscati Poey 1867
  • Bathythrissidae Günther 1877
  • Pterothrissidae Gill 1893
  • Conorhynchidae Gill 1861

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 /ˈælbjəlɪfɔːrmz/ . 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]

Contents

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

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Actinopterygii</span> Class of ray-finned bony fishes

Actinopterygii, members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of skin supported by radially extended thin bony spines called lepidotrichia, as opposed to the bulkier, fleshy lobed fins of the sister class Sarcopterygii. Resembling folding fans, the actinopterygian fins can easily change shape and wetted area, providing superior thrust-to-weight ratios per movement compared to sarcopterygian and chondrichthyian fins. The fin rays attach directly to the proximal or basal skeletal elements, the radials, which represent the articulation between these fins and the internal skeleton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sciaenidae</span> Family of fishes

Sciaenidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 293 to 298 species in about 66 or 67 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sparidae</span> Family of fishes

Sparidae is a family of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Spariformes, the sea breams and porgies, although they were traditionally classified in the order Perciformes. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters around the world and are demersal carnivores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonorynchiformes</span> Order of fishes

The Gonorynchiformes are an order of ray-finned fish that includes the important food source, the milkfish, and a number of lesser-known types, both marine and freshwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiiformes</span> Order of fishes

The Amiiformes order of fish has only two extant species, the bowfins: Amia calva and Amia ocellicauda, the latter recognized as a separate species in 2022. These Amiiformes are found in the freshwater systems of North America, in the United States and parts of southern Canada. They live in freshwater streams, rivers, and swamps. The order first appeared in the Triassic, and the extinct members include both marine and freshwater species, many of which are morphologically disparate from bowfins, such as the caturids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elopiformes</span> Order of fishes

The Elopiformes are the order of ray-finned fish including the tarpons, tenpounders, and ladyfish, as well as a number of extinct types. They have a long fossil record, easily distinguished from other fishes by the presence of an additional set of bones in the throat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neopterygii</span> Subclass of fishes

Neopterygii is a subclass of ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii). Neopterygii includes the Holostei and the Teleostei, of which the latter comprise the vast majority of extant fishes, and over half of all living vertebrate species. While living holosteans include only freshwater taxa, teleosts are diverse in both freshwater and marine environments. Many new species of teleosts are scientifically described each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grouper</span> Subfamily of fishes

Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.

<i>Elops saurus</i> Species of fish

The ladyfish or tenpounder is a species of fish in the genus Elops, the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elopomorpha</span> Superorder of fishes

The superorder Elopomorpha contains a variety of types of fishes that range from typical silvery-colored species, such as the tarpons and ladyfishes of the Elopiformes and the bonefishes of the Albuliformes, to the long and slender, smooth-bodied eels of the Anguilliformes. The one characteristic uniting this group of fishes is they all have leptocephalus larvae, which are unique to the Elopomorpha. No other fishes have this type of larvae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific ladyfish</span> Species of ray-finned fish

The Pacific ladyfish, also known as the Pacific tenpounder and machete, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Elops, the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae. The Pacific ladyfish can be found throughout the southwest U.S. and other areas in the Pacific Ocean.

<i>Myliobatis</i> Genus of cartilaginous fishes

Myliobatis is a genus of eagle rays in the family Myliobatidae.

Pterothrissus gissu, also known as the Japanese gissu, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Albulidae. The Japanese gissu is a rare fish that is distributed in deep water off northwest Pacific Ocean. This fish is known to pass through a leptocephalus larval stage, but only metamorphosed specimens have been available. This species is the only member of its genus.

Albula virgata is a species of marine fish found in the Hawaiian Islands. It is known commonly as the longjaw bonefish. They grow up to 32 cm (13 in).

<i>Callionymus</i> Genus of fishes

Callionymus is a genus of dragonets found mostly in the Indian and Pacific oceans with a few species occurring in the Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Pristis</i> Genus of cartilaginous fishes

Pristis is a genus of sawfish of the family Pristidae. These large fish are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions in coastal marine waters, estuaries, and freshwater lakes and rivers. Sawfish have declined drastically and all species are considered critically endangered today.

<i>Lepidotrigla</i> Genus of fishes

Lepidotrigla is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Triglidae, the gurnards and sea robins. These gurnards are found in the Eastern Atlantic, Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.

<i>Albula</i> (fish) Genus of fishes

Albula is an ancient genus of fish belonging to the family Albulidae. Members of this genus inhabit warm coastal waters worldwide.

The malacho or Southern ladyfish, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Elops, the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-fin bonefish</span> Species of ray-finned fish

Nemoossis belloci, also known as the long-fin bonefish is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Albulidae endemic to the eastern Atlantic Ocean. This species is the only member of its genus.

References

  1. 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.
  2. 1 2 Hidaka, 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.
  3. Van Der Laan, Richard; Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ronald (11 November 2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (1): 1–230. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 . PMID   25543675.
  4. Froese, R.; Pauly, D. (2017). "Albulidae". FishBase version (02/2017). Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  5. 1 2 Haaramo, Mikko (2007). "Albuloidei". Mikko's Phylogeny Archive. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  6. Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2016). "Notacanthiformes" in FishBase . October 2016 version.
  7. 1 2 DiMaura, P. (2007). "Huge Bonefish Caught in Florida Keys Weighs in at 16 Pounds, 3 Ounces; World Record Pending". The Florida Keys and Key West. Archived from the original on 2016-10-05.
  8. Nelson, Joseph S.; Grande, Terry C.; Wilson, Mark V. H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9781118342336.
  9. Laan, R. van der (11 October 2018). "Family-group names of fossil fishes". European Journal of Taxonomy (466). doi:10.5852/ejt.2018.466. ISSN   2118-9773 . Retrieved 3 February 2024.