The bonefish schools I see are working the 10'-20' deep water sand/rubble from the shore line to the reef drop off. I think it is probably one or two schools that work this area of the island. Usually in groups of 10-15. They will spread out some to feed on the bottom but stay within close proximity. If you spook then they will gather up and leave. A very wary fish. Most in the 18" size range give or take. No good on guessing their weights.
Fifteen years ago lionfish were rare to non existant in the Caribbean. Now I see one on virtually every dive and often several. Lionfish hunters regularly spearfish them and keep the numbers relatively low to keep them from getting out of hand, but there is no getting rid of them. They have been spotted around Bonaire to almost 600' depths by submarine survey. Have friends that will come out to this house reef and thin them if I start seeing too many. He likes to make ceveche with them but I prefer my fish cooked.
They are very tasty with a light flaky flesh. They are served on the menu on the island at several places. To clean them you simply use a pair of scissors to clip off the poisionious spines, then they clean like an ordinary fish. Get hit, even scratched, by one of the spines and it is very painful for quite a while. Something similar to what a bumble bee sting might be. Super sharp solid spines surrounded by a skin tube with the poision rising up around the spine via the tube. They are very docile because of their lack of fear of predation. If they have not been shot at by a spear gun (they learn quickly if missed) you can get within a couple inches of their spines. They just watch you and flare their spines out like in the picture. They also use their fins (only a few of the fins have poisionous spines) flared to herd small fish into ambush. They suck their prey in like a LMB. Pretty fish though.
