Lanternfish (Teleostei, Myctophiformes, Myctophidae) body fossils from the Modelo Formation (upper Miocene) of Los Angeles County, California

ABSTRACT

Representative fossils of three extant lanternfish (Myctophidae) genera (Bolinichthys, Lampanyctus, and Myctophum) from the collections of Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County were identified, based on a combination of osteological and photophore characters. These specimens come from the upper Miocene Modelo Formation (Mohnian-Delmontian) of California, and represent the first skeletal records of Bolinichthys (otherwise identified as otoliths from the Late Miocene of Italy) and Myctophum body fossils in North America, and confirm that both modern myctophid subfamilies exhibited a cosmopolitan distribution by the late Miocene.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank S. McLeod, H. Thomas, and J. Long of the LACM for specimen access and for loan of specimens under their care, J. Maisey and J. Meng of the AMNH for encouragement and advice during the study, and M. Friedman and two anonymous reviewers for comments that significantly improved the clarity of the manuscript.

Handling editor: Matt Friedman