A new Eocene citharinoid fish (Ostariophysi: Characiformes) from Tanzania

ABSTRACT

A single specimen of the anterior portion of a small fish was collected from the Eocene Mahenge site of Tanzania in 1996. The specimen, preserved as part and counterpart natural mold, is identified as belonging to a characiform fish, although the presence of a Weberian apparatus has not been confirmed beyond doubt. Features of the bones, such as the prominent lateral ridge on the anterodorsal corner of the opercle, the fused postcleithra 2+3, and the lack of a dentary symphyseal hinge, indicate that the fish is related to the Citharinidae and Distichodontidae. The fossil cannot be included in any known genus, and is described here as a new genus and species, Eocitharinus macrognathus. The fossil record of characiforms includes few articulated skeletons, of which only one had been reported previously from Africa, described in the family Characidae (=Alestidae).