Pacific Shafted Bonefish, Albula pacifica
Pacific Shafted Bonefish, Albula pacifica. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, March 2012. Length: 48 cm (19 inches).
The Pacific Shafted Bonefish, Albula pacifica, is a member of the Bonefish or Albulidae Family, and is known in Mexico as macabí de hebra del Pacifico. Globally, there six species in the genus Albula, of which four are found in Mexican waters, one in the Atlantic and three in the Pacific Ocean.
The Pacific Shafted Bonefish is a medium-sized fish with long, slender, silvery, and slightly compressed body. Their anal and pectoral fins are yellowish and their caudal fins are dusky in color. They have a conical head with a small, long, inferior mouth that reaches the eyes and a pointed overhanging snout. Their anal fins are set under the rear of their dorsal fin; they have a deeply forked caudal fin; the single dorsal fin has a short base and is located mid-body; the pectoral fins that are low on the body; and the pelvic fins are short, low on the body and well behind the pectoral fins. Their lateral line is straight and runs the entire length of the body. Their fins do not have spines and the anal and dorsal fins have an extended filamentous ray (a key to identification). They are covered with modest-sized smooth scales.
The Pacific Shafted Bonefish are bottom dwelling schooling fish found in and around sandy substrata primarily within estuaries at depths of less than 35 feet. They reach a maximum of 60 cm (23 inches) in length. They are believed to be a pelagic species that travels and feeds in schools. The Pacific Shafted Bonefish The Acapulco Damselfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Pacific Shafted Bonefish in a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found only around the southern tip of Baja and along the coast of the mainland from Mazatlán, Sinaloa to Guatemala.
The Pacific Shafted Bonefish is similar to the other 3 Bonefish found in Mexico’s oceanic waters – the Bonefish, Albula vulpes, the Cortez Bonefish, Albula gilberti, and the Eastern Pacific Bonefish, Albula esuncula, however, none of these have the extended dorsal ray filament characteristic of the Pacific Shafted Bonefish. They are also similar in appearance to the Machete, Elops affinis (pelvic fins in front of the dorsal fins) and the Milkfish, Chanos chanos (large eyes, short terminal mouth, strong lateral line, short pointed dorsal fin).
From a conservation perspective the Pacific Shafted Bonefish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable widely distributed populations. They are not considered to be a valuable food fish due to their small stature and the numerous fine bones that are omnipresent in its flesh.