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The bonefish is the type species
Type species

In taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus . It is an individual specimen that fixes the name of a genus . Two different definitions are used interchangeably, in a general term and a botanical term....
 of the Albulidae, or bonefishes
Bonefishes

The bonefishes are a family 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 on their 10 cent coin, and elsewhere....
. It is amphidromous, living in inshore tropical waters, moving onto shallow tidal flats to feed with the incoming tide, and retreating to deeper water as the tide ebbs. Juvenile bonefish may be observed in large shoals of like-sized individuals with large mature fish swimming in smaller groups or in pairs. Bonefish are considered to be among the world's premier game fish and are highly sought after by anglers.






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The bonefish is the type species
Type species

In taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus . It is an individual specimen that fixes the name of a genus . Two different definitions are used interchangeably, in a general term and a botanical term....
 of the Albulidae, or bonefishes
Bonefishes

The bonefishes are a family 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 on their 10 cent coin, and elsewhere....
. It is amphidromous, living in inshore tropical waters, moving onto shallow tidal flats to feed with the incoming tide, and retreating to deeper water as the tide ebbs. Juvenile bonefish may be observed in large shoals of like-sized individuals with large mature fish swimming in smaller groups or in pairs. Bonefish are considered to be among the world's premier game fish and are highly sought after by anglers. Bonefish are primarily caught for sport. They are not commonly eaten. In Hawaii, bonefish known as oio are eaten.

Range

Bonefish are found worldwide in warm seas. The fish are caught by sport anglers in shallows near Sanbis Resort in Gizo in the Solomon Islands. The abundant sand flats surrounding Christmas Island
Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a Territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, Western Australia, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
 are prime bonefishing destinations for anglers from all over the world.

Description

Weight up to 10 kg, Length to 104 cm. Silvery in colour with dusky fins—the bases of the pectoral fins are yellow. Heavily schooling fish, with some of the larger individuals traveling singly or in schools.

The bonefish, also known as phantom or gray ghost, is probably pound for pound the strongest and fastest running salt-water fish. Bonefishing is a shallow-water pursuit done in depths ranging from 8 inches to 8 feet. Flats sporting currents; dropoffs along the edge and clean, healthy seagrass beds produce abundant small crabs and shrimps that bonefish prey upon. Bonefish are known to follow stingrays, looking for small prey items disturbed by the rooting stingrays.

Diet

Known to feed on benthic worm
Worm

A worm is a common name given to a diverse group of invertebrate animals that have a long, soft body and no legs. There are hundreds of thousands of species of worms, 2,700 of these are earthworms....
s, fry
Fry

Fry may refer to the following:...
, crustacean
Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s, and molluscs.

Habitat

Found from 0-5m depth in coastal waters over grassy or sandy ocean floor.

Points of note

An important game fish
Game fish

Game fish are fish pursued for sport by recreational anglers. They can be freshwater or marine fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, though increasingly anglers practise catch and release to improve fish populations....
. This fish may improve its tolerance to oxygen-poor water by inhaling air into a lung-like airbladder. Live Shrimp is one of the most effective baits for this species.