A brief overview on the life cycle of bonefish

1. Spawning.  Permit spawn over reef promontories and/or artificial reefs in deep water near the full moon.  In Florida, spawning occurs during late spring and summer.  Farther into the tropics, in Belize, permit spawn every month from February through October.

2.  Larval Phase.  All fish and fish larvae have otoliths (earbones) that help them with equilibrium and hearing.  The earbones also have rings on them – in larvae and juveniles there is one ring for each day.  Based on counting the daily rings on permit larval otoliths, we have determined that permit larvae live as plankton in the open ocean for 15 to 18 days.

Otolith from a larval permit

3 and 4.  At the end of their larval stage, permit larvae seek out shallow sandy habitat adjacent to windward beaches.  The smallest permit often ride up and down in the surf line that washes up the beach. They stay in these habitats until approximately 8” fork length, and then move into habitats unknown.

Juvenile permit less than 20 days old

5. Larger juveniles (adolescents) and young adults.  These fish are generally not found along sandy beaches, but for the most part we are unsure where these life stages live.

6.  Adults.  Other than the knowledge of fishermen, we know little about permit.  There have been no published studies on diet or movement, and the only study on growth rates is from research conducted in Florida, which showed that permit can live to at least 23 years.

All material copyright Aaron Adams 2007, 2008, and beyond, unless noted.