Albula is an ancient genus of fish belonging to the family Albulidae. Members of this genus inhabit warm coastal waters worldwide.
This genus contains many of the species popularly referred to as bonefish, which are vital components of both subsistence fisheries and sport fishing industries worldwide; this, in conjunction with destruction of breeding habitat, has led to population declines in many species.
Taxonomy Bonefish were once believed to be a single species with a global distribution; however, 11 distinct species have since been identified. There are three identified species in the Atlantic and eight in the Pacific. All species are morphologically indistinguishable from one another and can only be reliably distinguished with genetic evidence, but all of them diverged from one another between 4 and 20 million years ago.
The oldest fossils belonging to this genus are from the Late Cretaceous of Alabama and Uzbekistan.
Extant species The 11 currently recognized living species in this genus are: Albula argentea (Forster 1801) (silver sharpjaw bonefish) Albula esuncula (Garman 1899) (Eastern Pacific bonefish) Albula gilberti Pfeiler, van der Heiden, Ruboyianes & Watts, 2011Pfeiler, E., Van Der Heiden, A.M., Ruboyianes, R.S., & Watts, T. (2011). Albula gilberti, a new species of bone fish (Albuliformes: Albulidae) from the eastern Pacific, and a description of adults of the parapatric A. esuncula. Zootaxa 3088: 1-14. (Cortez bonefish) Albula glossodonta (Forsskål, 1775) (Roundjaw/shortjaw bonefish) Albula goreensis Valenciennes, 1847 (West African bonefish) Albula koreana Kwun & Kim, 2011Kwun, H.J. & Kim, J.K. (2011): A new species of bonefish, Albula koreana (Albuliformes: Albulidae) from Korea and Taiwan. Zootaxa, 2903: 57–63. (Korean bonefish) Albula nemoptera (Fowler, 1911) (Threadfin bonefish) Albula oligolepis Hidaka, Iwatsuki & Randall, 2008 (Smallscale bonefish) Albula pacifica (Beebe, 1942)Pfeiler, E., 2008. Resurrection of the name Albula pacifica (Beebe, 1942) for the shafted bonefish (Albuliformes: Albulidae) from the eastern Pacific. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56(2):839-844. (Pacific shafted bonefish) Albula virgata Jordan & Jordan, 1922 (Longjaw bonefish) Albula vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) (bonefish)
Fossil species
†Albula bartonensis Schedl 1933 †Albula bashiana (Frizzell 1965) [Metalbula bashiana Frizzell 1965] †Albula campaniana Nolf & Stringer 1996 †Albula dunklei Applegate 1970 †Albula eppsi White & Frost 1931 †Albula oweni (Agassiz 1844) [Pisodus owenii Agassiz 1844; Pisodus owenii Agassiz 1844]
References