Bonefish

Credit: Illustration by Diane Rome Peebles

Family Albulidae

Description: silvery color with bluish or greenish back; slender, round body; snout long, conical, aiming downward and overhanging lower jaw; dark streaks between scales on upper half of body and faint crossbands extending down to lateral line; extremities of dorsal and caudal fins shaded with black

Similar fish: ladyfish, Elops saurus

Where found: primarily inshore fish inhabiting shallows of the Florida Keys; found in shallows often less than 1 food deep, usually over lush grass flats, occasionally over white sand

Size: 3 to 5 pounds

Remarks: travels in loose schools; roots out shrimp, shellfish, crabs, and fish from the bottom; spawns offshore, eggs hatching into ribbon-like larvae that metamorphose into fish-like form at about 2 inches and move inshore