2025 in paleoichthyology

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This list of fossil fish research presented in 2025 is a list of new fossil taxa of jawless vertebrates, placoderms, cartilaginous fishes, bony fishes, and other fishes that were described during the year, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to paleoichthyology that occurred in 2025.

Placoderms

Placoderm research

• Redescription and a study on the affinities of Exutaspis megista is published by Xue et al. (2025). ^[1]

Cartilaginous fishes

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Antrigoulia guinoti [2]	Sp. nov	Valid	Duffin & Batchelor	Early Cretaceous	Lower Greensand Group	United Kingdom
Apolithabatis [3]	Gen. et sp. nov		Türtscher et al.	Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian)	Painten Formation	Germany	A ray in the new clade Apolithabatiformes. The type species is A. seioma.
Batillodus [4]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Duffin, Lauer & Lauer	Carboniferous (Kasimovian)	Kansas City Group	United States (  Kansas)	A member of Petalodontiformes belonging to the family Janassidae. The type species is B. beaveri.
Clavusodens [5]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Hodnett et al.	Carboniferous (Viséan)	Ste. Genevieve Formation	United States (  Kentucky)	A member of Petalodontiformes belonging to the family Obruchevodidae. The type species is C. mcginnisi.
Eorapax [6]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Saugen et al.	Early Triassic	Vikinghøgda Formation	Norway	A neoselachian. The type species is E. serrasis.
Pseudorhina carinata [2]	Sp. nov	Valid	Duffin & Batchelor	Early Cretaceous	Lower Greensand Group	United Kingdom
Pseudorhina clopellensis [2]	Sp. nov	Valid	Duffin & Batchelor	Early Cretaceous	Lower Greensand Group	United Kingdom
Pseudorhina magnapraecinctorium [2]	Sp. nov	Valid	Duffin & Batchelor	Early Cretaceous	Lower Greensand Group	United Kingdom
cf. Synechodus rotheliusi [6]	Sp. nov	Valid	Saugen et al.	Early Triassic	Vikinghøgda Formation	Norway
Wimanodon [6]	Gen. et sp. nov	Valid	Saugen et al.	Early Triassic	Vikinghøgda Formation	Norway	A neoselachian. The type species is W. marmieri.

Cartilaginous fish research

• Zhao et al. (2025) interpret Laffonia helvetica as a holocephalan egg capsule morphologically intermediate between Carboniferous Crookallia and Vetacapsula and extant chimaerid capsules. ^[7]
• A well-preserved specimen of Chimaeropsis paradoxa , displaying soft parts, is described from the Tithonian strata in the Solnhofen area (Germany) by Duffin, Lauer & Lauer (2025). ^[8]
• Gayford & Jambura (2025) review evidence of different drivers of diversification of elasmobranchs throughout their evolutionary history. ^[9]
• Greif et al. (2025) reconstruct feeding habits of Ctenacanthus concinnus , interpreting it as likely opportunistic feeder that used an array of feeding mechanisms. ^[10]
• Staggl et al. (2025) study diversity dynamics of neoselachians throughout the Mesozoic, providing evidence that higher atmospheric CO₂ concentrations had negative effect on neoselachian diversity. ^[11]
• Evidence from the study of oxygen isotope composition of teeth of Cretoxyrhina mantelli , Cretalamna appendiculata , Scapanorhynchus texanus , Squalicorax kaupi , Squalicorax pristodontus and Ptychodus mortoni from the Upper Cretaceous strata from the Gulf Coastal Plain, interpreted as likely indicative of increased body temperature of P. mortoni and indicative of active heating and migration from warmer waters by C. mantelli, is presented by Comans, Tobin & Totten (2025) ^[12]
• Amadori et al. (2025) reconstruct the lower crushing plate of Ptychodus decurrens on the basis of new fossil material from the Upper Cretaceous strata in Croatia. ^[13]
• Greenfield (2025) reidentify the large rostrum and four fragmentary rostral denticles from the Dakhla Formation originally attributed to Onchopristis sp. by Capasso et al. (2024) ^[14] as Sclerorhynchoidei indet. and Sclerorhynchus cf. leptodon, respectively. ^[15]

Ray-finned fishes

Name	Novelty	Status	Authors	Age	Type locality	Location	Notes	Images
Chilomycterus dzonotensis [16]	Sp. nov	Valid	Cantalice et al.	Neogene	Carrillo Puerto Formation	Mexico	A species of Chilomycterus .
Moythomasia lebedevi [17]	Sp. nov	Valid	Plax, Bakaev & Naugolnykh	Devonian (Givetian)	Stolin Beds	Belarus

Ray-finned fish research

• Cooper et al. (2025) study the skull roof anatomy of Gyrosteus mirabilis , and interpret both G. mirabilis and Strongylosteus hindenburgi as species distinct from Chondrosteus acipenseroides . ^[18]
• Redescription of Zignoichthys oblongus , based on data from new fossil material from the Pesciara site of the Bolca locality (Italy), is published by Ridolfi et al. (2025). ^[19]
• Collareta et al. (2025) report the discovery of fused dentaries of an ocean sunfish from the Lower Pliocene strata of the Siena-Radicofani Basin (Italy), representing the first finding of fossil material of a member of this group in post-Miocene strata outside North America. ^[20]
• Přikryl et al. (2025) report the presence of fossil material of an indeterminate goby and members of the genera Herklotsichthys and Ophisternon in the Pleistocene Laguna Formation (Philippines). ^[21]

Lobe-finned fishes

Lobe-finned fish research

• Cui et al. (2025) provide new information on the anatomy of Styloichthys changae , and study the evolution of cosmine in lobe-finned fishes. ^[22]

General research

• Andrews, Shirley & Figueroa (2025) report the discovery of a new, diverse fish assemblage from the Carboniferous (Mississippian) Marshall Sandstone (Michigan, United States). ^[23]
• Pokorný et al. (2025) describe trace fossils produced during death struggle of fishes from the Upper Cretaceous marine sediments in Lebanon, and name new ichnotaxa Pinnichnus haqilensis and P. emmae. ^[24]

References

1. Xue, Q.; Wang, J.; Zhu, M.; Zhu, Y. (2025). "A reappraisal of the morphology and systematics of Extuaspis megista, a brachythoracid arthrodire from the Early Devonian of Yunnan, China". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 (1). 2455751. doi:10.1080/14772019.2025.2455751.
2. Duffin, C. J.; Batchelor, T. J. (2025). "New Neoselachian (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) teeth from the Lower Greensand Group (Early Cretaceous) of southern England". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2025/1239.
3. Türtscher, Julia; Jambura, Patrick L.; Spindler, Frederik; Kriwet, Jürgen (2025-01-23). "Insights into stem Batomorphii: A new holomorphic ray (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from the upper Jurassic of Germany". PLOS ONE. 20 (1): e0310174. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310174 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   11756912 . PMID   39847754.
4. Duffin, C. J.; Lauer, B.; Lauer, R. (2025). "New Janassid Petalodontiform (Chondrichthyes) teeth from the Late Carboniferous of Kansas, USA". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen. 313 (2): 215–232. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2025/1231.
5. Hodnett, J.-P. M.; Egli, H. C.; Toomey, R.; Olson, R.; Tolleson, K.; Boldon, R.; Tweet, J. S.; Santucci, V. L. (2025). "Obruchevodid petalodonts (Chondrichthyes, Petalodontiformes, Obruchevodidae) from the Middle Mississippian (Viséan) Joppa Member of the Ste. Genevieve Formation at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky U.S.A.". Journal of Paleontology: 1–11. doi:10.1017/jpa.2024.40.
6. Saugen, S. M.; Roberts, A. J.; Engelschiøn, V. S.; Hurum, J. H. (2025). "A new assemblage of Lower Triassic neoselachians (Chondrichthyes) from the Grippia Bonebed of Spitsbergen, Norway". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2426544. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2426544.
7. Zhao, Y.; Bestwick, J.; Fischer, J.; Bastiaans, D.; Greif, M.; Klug, C. (2025). "The first record of a shortnose chimaera-like egg capsule from the Mesozoic (Late Jurassic, Switzerland)". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144. 8. doi: 10.1186/s13358-025-00352-x . PMC   11830639 . PMID   39967761.
8. Duffin, C. J.; Lauer, B.; Lauer, R. (2025). "Chimaeropsis paradoxa Zittel, 1887 (Myriacanthoidei, Holocephali) from the Late Jurassic of Solnhofen". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen. 313 (3): 245–272. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2025/1233.
9. Gayford, J. H.; Jambura, P. L. (2025). "Drivers of diversification in sharks and rays (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii)". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 12. 1530326. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2024.1530326 .
10. Greif, M.; Calandra, I.; Lautenschlager, S.; Kaiser, T. M.; Mezane, M.; Klug, C. (2025). "Reconstruction of feeding behaviour and diet in Devonian ctenacanth chondrichthyans using dental microwear texture and finite element analyses". Royal Society Open Science. 12 (1). 240936. doi: 10.1098/rsos.240936 . PMC   11774596 .
11. Staggl, M. A.; De Gracia, C.; López-Romero, F. A.; Stumpf, S.; Villalobos-Segura, E.; Benton, M. J.; Kriwet, J. (2025). "The Drivers of Mesozoic Neoselachian Success and Resilience". Biology. 14 (2). 142. doi: 10.3390/biology14020142 .
12. Comans, C. M.; Tobin, T. S.; Totten, R. L. (2025). "Oxygen isotope composition of teeth suggests endothermy and possible migration in some Late Cretaceous shark taxa from the Gulf Coastal Plain, USA". Paleobiology: 1–13. doi: 10.1017/pab.2024.45 .
13. Amadori, M.; Japundžić, S.; Amalfitano, J.; Giusberti, L.; Fornaciari, E.; Jambura, P. L.; Kriwet, J. (2025). "New insights on the shell-crusher shark Ptychodus decurrens Agassiz, 1838 (Elasmobranchii, Ptychodontidae) based on the first known articulated dentition from the Upper Cretaceous of Croatia". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1). 2. doi: 10.1186/s13358-024-00340-7 . PMC   11711565 . PMID   39802099.
14. Capasso, L.; Abdel Aziz, S.; Tantawy, A. A.; Mousa, M. K.; Wahba, D. G. A.; Abu El-Kheir, G. A. (2024). "The first described Onchopristis Stromer, 1917, (Elasmobranchii: †Onchopristidae) from the Marine Maastrichtian of Dakhla Formation, Western Desert, Egypt". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 220. 105415. Bibcode:2024JAfES.22005415C. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2024.105415.
15. Greenfield, T. (2025). "No evidence for a giant, late-surviving Onchopristis: Comment on Capasso et al. (2024)". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 223. 105541. Bibcode:2025JAfES.22305541G. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2025.105541.
16. Cantalice, K. M.; Salgado-Garrido, H. E.; Sosa-Rodríguez, E.; Vilchis-Zapata, K.; González-Barba, G. (2025). "Underwater paleontology inside cenotes reveals the Miocene-Pliocene fish diversity in the Yucatan Peninsula, southeast Mexico". PLOS ONE. 20 (2). e0315382. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315382 . PMC   11801553 .
17. Plax, D. P.; Bakaev, A. S.; Naugolnykh, S. V. (2025). "A new species of the Devonian actinopterygian fish Moythomasia from Belarus". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 131 (1): 25–38. doi: 10.54103/2039-4942/22868 .
18. Cooper, S. L. A.; Jacobs, M.; Ferrari, L.; Martill, D. M. (2025). "Skull roof anatomy of the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) acipenseriform †Gyrosteus mirabilis Woodward ex Agassiz, from Yorkshire, England, elucidates diversity of †Chondrosteidae". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2024.12.004.
19. Ridolfi, L.; Marramà, G.; Tyler, J. C.; Carnevale, G. (2025). "A new fossil clarifies the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of the Eocene gymnodont fish †Zignoichthys oblongus (Zigno, 1874)". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 131 (1): 117–138. doi: 10.54103/2039-4942/23409 .
20. Collareta, A.; Casati, S.; Mulè, F.; Pieri, A.; Di Cencio, A.; Bianucci, G. (2025). "A fossil mola from the Mediterranean Pliocene". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen. 313 (3): 341–351. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2025/1238.
21. Přikryl, T.; Castro, A.; Fernando, A. G.; Nogot, J. R. C.; Magtoto, C.; Garas, K.; Mediodia, D.; Lin, C.-H. (2025). "Fossil fish assemblage of the Laguna Formation, Philippines: unveiling the uniqueness of Pleistocene freshwater ecosystems in Southeast Asia". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144. 5. doi: 10.1186/s13358-024-00347-0 .
22. Cui, X.; Qiao, T.; Peng, L.; Zhu, M. (2025). "New material of the Early Devonian sarcopterygian Styloichthys changae illuminates the origin of cosmine". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 (1). 2432273. Bibcode:2025JSPal..2332273C. doi:10.1080/14772019.2024.2432273.
23. Andrews, J. V.; Shirley, E. A.; Figueroa, R. T. (2025). "Vertebrates of the Blue Ridge Esker (Mississippian, Marshall Sandstone) of Michigan". Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan. 36 (3): 43–58. doi:10.7302/25119.
24. Pokorný, R.; Nohra, R.; Abi Saad, P.; Vallon, L. H. (2025). "Death on "live broadcast"—fish mortichnia from the Upper Cretaceous plattenkalk of Lebanon". Paleobiology: 1–14. doi:10.1017/pab.2024.28.