An early Oligocene elopiform fish from a new locality in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey

ABSTRACT

A new locality sampling Oligocene marine deposits of the Tethys is located in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. Among the vertebrate remains recovered from the site are two specimens representing previously undescribed fishes. Each specimen represents a different taxon, but only one is preserved well enough to describe. We here describe that fish as a new genus and species of elopiform, Echinelops ozcani. The Elopiformes are basal teleost fishes that first appear in the fossil record in the Jurassic. The living diversity of the order is much reduced, with few genera reported from the Cenozoic. Whereas many of the elopiforms are large fishes, the Anatolian specimen is fairly small. Although there is a report of an elopid in the Paratethys region during the Oligocene, the new genus and species of elopiform reported here is the first record of this order in the Tethys Sea during this time.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank A. Lindoe for making the silicone peel of the specimen and R. B. Holmes for comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. Helpful reviews that improved the manuscript were given by G. Carnevale and an anonymous reviewer.

Handling editor: Matt Friedman