H aw aiian F is h e s 37 



The family contains only two known living forms, one of which is 

 circumtropical. 



Bonefish or Oio 



Also known as the Ladyfish or Banana Fish and erroneously called Omaka 



14-1 Albula vulpes (Linne) 



Plate III, Figure 12 



Drawn from Jordan & Evermann 



The bonefish is a brilliant silvery or steel bluish color above and bright 

 silvery on the sides and belly. The back and sides of this fish are some- 

 times marked with faint streaks along the rows of scales. It will reach a 

 length of from eighteen inches to three feet and, although alert and strong, 

 is reported to be weaker than the tarpon. The head is somewhat wedge 

 shaped and has a pointed snout which overhangs the mouth. Their teeth 

 are blunt and rounded and the eyes appear to be nearly covered with a 

 thick transparent membrane. 



The bonefish has a larval stage somewhat like the conger eels in 

 which the young are long and band shaped with small heads and loose, 

 transparent tissue. Before the larvae begin to grow they will first shrink 

 from three and one-half to two inches and thereafter grow more and 

 more like the adult. It is reported that along the coast of the Gulf of 

 California these young bonefish are sometimes thrown upon the beaches 

 in large numbers by storms. 



The bonefishes live in tropical seas and are most common along sandy 

 coasts. They are widely distributed in the oceans of the world and are 

 usually abundant wherever they occur. They occasionally form large 

 schools which may be caught by clever fishermen. They seem to like to 

 enter shallow water and will swim over low tide flats searching for food 

 with the incoming tide. They seem to eat shellfish, worms, and crusta- 



