New enchodontoid fish (Teleostei: Aulopiformes) from the Late Cretaceous of Lebanon

ABSTRACT

A new enchodontoid, †Spinascutichthys pankowskiae gen. et sp. nov. is described from the marine Cenomanian deposits of the En Nammoura locality, Lebanon. The enchodontoid is small, but fully ossified, and armoured with rows of scutes bearing strong spines along the back, flanks, and ventral surface of the tail. The long, slender body and elongate jaws are similar to those of dercetids, but the predorsal scutes and ventral prongs on the dentary indicate relationship with enchodontids. Although more, or better, characters are needed to resolve the phylogeny and monophyly of the †Enchodontoidei, the family †Enchodontidae is found to be monophyletic, but a monophyletic †Dercetidae is not recovered. The new taxon is resolved in a phylogenetic analysis as the sister group to †Nardorex. This small, armoured fish supports the interpretation of En Nammoura as having a shallower water environment than that represented at the two similarly aged Lebanese deposits of Hakel and Hadjula.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We gratefully acknowledge the donation of the fossil specimens by the Pankowski family; the fossils described here are now part of the scientific record and maintained in a registered, accessible collection because of their generosity and dedication to making sure fossil material is donated to public institutions. Our thanks to T. Argyriou (Associate Editor), Pedro Godoy (Phylogenetics Technical Editor), J. Alvarado-Ortega, and an anonymous reviewer for their thorough reviews and providing many helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript. This research was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant 327448 to AMM.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.