Barreleye Macropinna sp. (Argentiniformes, Opisthoproctidae) from the Miocene of Sakhalin Island, Russia

ABSTRACT

The first fossil spookfish (Argentiniformes: Opisthoproctidae) is described from deposits of the middle-upper Miocene Kurasi Formation of Sakhalin Island, Russia. The fossil is placed in the family Opisthoproctidae because of the posterior position of its dorsal fin, along with a very small mouth and very long pelvic fin. It is referred further to the genus Macropinna, based on the placement of the anterior margin of the anal fin under the posterior part of dorsal fin, and a close correspondence in vertebra and fin ray counts and body proportions with the only living species, Macropinna microstoma Chapman, 1939. The great similarity between fossil and Recent barreleyes suggests that this Miocene form is a representative of the Recent species or a stem member of M. microstoma.

Citation for this article: Nazarkin, M. V. 2016. Barreleye Macropinna sp. (Argentiniformes, Opisthoproctidae) from the Miocene of Sakhalin Island, Russia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1187158.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank M. S. Kartashov, V. V. Platonov, I. L. Tumanov, and L. K. Fedorova for their help in organization and carrying out of the field studies. A. A. Petrov (ZIN, Russia) kindly agreed to improve the English. Giorgio Carnevale (Università degli Studi di Torino, Italy) and two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their constructive comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant 14-04-00642-a.