Third bone fish species identified

From an article by Susan Cocking in The Miami Herald:

Fisheries scientists have known for years that two species of bonefish reside in the waters of South Florida and the Caribbean -- albula vulpes and albula garcia, or species B.

But before they could fill in the blanks of those respective life histories came recent confirmation from geneticists there is a third -- previously unknown and as yet unnamed -- species of one of the region's most economically important gamefish.

The new species can not be identified by physical appearance -- only by examining DNA in the cell nucleus from bits of clipped dorsal fins. Geneticists at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg made the discovery recently based on samples taken from the Keys; the western, undeveloped side of Andros Island in the Bahamas; Mexico's Yucatan region; the Virgin Islands; and Grand Bahama Island.

Experts who study the species, such as Aaron Adams of Mote Marine Laboratory on Pine Island in Sarasota, don't know where the mystery fish spends most of its time, when and where it spawns, how large it grows, nor when it reaches maturity. But they haven't answered some of those questions for the two previously identified species either.

''Figuring out what's in the fishery is a huge priority,'' said Adams, who serves as director of operations and research for the nonprofit Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited.

``It's like being a kid in a candy store -- everything you find out is new, but you've only got a quarter.''

Having the complete biological picture for bonefish is important because sport fishing is a multibillion dollar economic engine in South Florida and the Caribbean. A five-year annual census conducted by scientists from the University of Miami shows every bonefish from Key Biscayne to the Marquesas in the lower Keys is worth $3,500 per year -- or $75,000 over its lifetime -- based on money spent on fishing tackle, boats and charters to chase the species.