Anaethalion
Extinct genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anaethalion is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine and freshwater ray-finned fish related to modern tarpons and ladyfish. It is known from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of Europe and northeasterrn Asia (Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Russia), roughly encompassing the Tethys Ocean.[1][2]
| Anaethalion Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Anaethalion knorri | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Elopiformes |
| Genus: | †Anaethalion White, 1938 |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
It is the earliest known member of the Elopiformes and the Elopomorpha in general.[3] The earliest known species are marine, but later species are found in freshwater habitats.
The following species are known:[1]
- A. macrorhynchus (Eichwald, 1846) (Aptian of Siberia)
- A. knorri (Blainville, 1818) (Kimmeridgian of Germany)
- A. valdensis (Woodward, 1907) (Berriasian-Hauterivian of England)
- A. zapporum Arratia, 2000 (Kimmeridgian of Germany)
An undescribed species is known from the Albian of Italy. The genus Aethalionopsis was previously considered synonymous with Anaethalion, but is now known to be a fossil relative of the milkfish. Some authorities place some of its species (A. valdensis and the undescribed Italian species) with Aethalionopsis instead.[1][4][5]
