Eoplectus
Extinct genus of fishes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eoplectus is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine tetraodontiform fish that lived during the Eocene. It contains a single species, E. bloti from the Early Eocene-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy.[2] It is the only member of the family Eoplectidae.[3] It closely resembled pufferfishes and porcupinefishes, which it was related to.[1]
| Eoplectus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Fossil specimen, Museo di Storia Naturale Verona | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
| Family: | †Eoplectidae |
| Genus: | †Eoplectus Tyler, 1973 |
| Species: | †E. bloti |
| Binomial name | |
| †Eoplectus bloti Tyler, 1973 | |
It displays some unique morphological traits among tetraodontiforms, that support it being a basal member of the Tetraodontoidei.[4][5][6]
