ALUBULIDAE


Albula oligolepis, 28.7 cm SL
(preserved specimen; photo by Koichi Hidaka)


Albula oligolepis
Hidaka, Iwatsuki and Randall, 2008
Smallscale Bonefish

D 17-19; A 7-8; P1 17-19; P2 10; LLp 61-65.

Body slender, subcylindrical. Snout long, conical; mouth inferior, lower jaw in ventral view pointed; the posterior tip of upper jaw not reaching to front margin of eye. Villiform teeth in small patches on premaxilla and dentary; molariform teeth in broad bands on parasphenoid, basibranchials and mesopterygoid. Scales cycloid. Color: head and body bright silvery white on side and below; posterior margin of caudal fin black; ventral margin of lower caudal lobe white; first pelvic-fin ray white; anal fin white. Size: maximum length about 80 cm. Distribution: distributed only in Indian Ocean from South Africa to Australia. Remarks: Albula oligolepis is distinguished from A. argentea only from western Pacific and A. virgata only from Hawaii Islands by vertebral and pored lateral-line counts, and the posterior extension of the pelvic fin relative to the anus (Hidaka et al., 2008).