Fishbone like BiVO4 product has been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method without using any surfactant or template. The pH value was found to play an important role in the formation of this morphology. The band gap of the as-prepared fishbone like BiVO4 sample was estimated to be about 2.36 eV from the onset of UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum (UV-vis DRS) of the photocatalyst. The as-prepared fishbone like BiVO4 sample exhibited excellent visible-light-driven photocatalytic efficiency. Over this catalyst, the 100% degradation of rhodamine B (Rh B) (0.005 mmol L-1) was obtained after visible light irradiation (lambda > 420 nm) for 180 min. This is much higher than that of bulk BiVO4 sample prepared by solid-state reaction. The reason for the differences in the photocatalytic activities of fishbone like BiVO4 sample and bulk BiVO4 sample was further investigated. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.