| Blochius Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Blochius longirostris | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Clade: | Percomorpha |
| Order: | Istiophoriformes |
| Family: | † Blochiidae Bleeker, 1859 |
| Genus: | † Blochius Volta, 1796 |
| Species | |
| |
Blochius is an extinct genus of billfish from the Eocene. It is only known from the Monte Bolca deposits in Italy, and was likely restricted to shallow, tropical waters of the Tethys Ocean. [1] [2]
The existence of Blochius was known as early as 1709, where it is mentioned in a written account by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, who identified a fragment of a Blochius skeleton and identified it as being either related to the Xiphias (swordfish) or Siluro (catfish). It was not until the advent of Linnean taxonomy that it properly received a scientific name by Giovanni Serafino Volta, who named Blochius in 1796 after pioneering ichthyologist Marcus Elieser Bloch. [3]
It is one of two known definite genera in the family Blochiidae, alongside Loancorhynchus from earlier in the Eocene of Chile. [4] The indeterminate remains of a Blochius-like fish are known from the Late Paleocene of Peru. [5] Indeterminate blochiid remains are also known from the middle Eocene of Uzbekistan, and from the latest Paleocene/earliest Eocene Danata Formation of Turkmenistan. [6] [7] Other potential blochiids such as Acestrus , Aglyptorhynchus , Hemirhabdorhynchus , Cylindracanthus and Congorhynchus are based on highly fragmentary remains and it is thus uncertain if they are blochiids, or even billfish for the last two. [2] [8] [3] Some authorities have found the Blochiidae to be basal billfish not closely related to any extant groups, whereas others find them to be more closely related to swordfish (Xiphiidae) than to marlins & sailfish (Istiophoridae). [9]
The following species are known, all from Italy:
Blochius had a very slender elongated body, a narrow head with elongated upper and lower jaws and large eyes. Much like its modern relatives such as swordfish, it had an elongated rostrum. [2] [10] Although generally small in size at around 2 feet in length, it could reach a maximum length of 2.155 metres (7.07 ft). The rostrum generally comprised 40% of the body length. [3] [11] It likely hunted in a manner similar to modern needlefish. [3] [11]
Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes 11 species.
Monte Bolca is a lagerstätte near Verona, Italy that was one of the first fossil sites with high quality preservation known to Europeans, and is still an important source of fossils from the Eocene.
The billfish are a group of saltwater predatory fish characterised by prominent pointed bills (rostra), and by their large size; some are longer than 4 m (13 ft). Extant billfish include sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophoridae; and swordfish, sole member of the family Xiphiidae. They are often apex predators which feed on a wide variety of smaller fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. These two families are sometimes classified as belonging to the order Istiophoriformes, a group which originated around 71 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous, with the two families diverging around 15 million years ago in the Late Miocene. However, they are also classified as being closely related to the mackerels and tuna within the suborder Scombroidei of the order Perciformes. However, the 5th edition of the Fishes of the World does recognise the Istiophoriformes as a valid order, albeit including the Sphyraenidae, the barracudas.
Congorhynchus is an enigmatic, likely polyphyletic genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that was described by E. Darteville and E. Casier in 1949.
Eospinus daniltshenkoi is an extinct tetraodontid bony fish from the Eocene. Its fossils are from the Danata Formation lagerstatten of Ypresian Turkmenistan.
Turkmenidae is an extinct family of lamprids from the Paleogene of the west-central Asia, in what was formerly the Peri-Tethys Ocean. They were small, disk-shaped fish that bore a strong resemblance to their closest living relatives, the opahs.
Ceratoichthys is an extinct genus of lookdown-like prehistoric jackfish that lived during the late Ypresian epoch, of the Early Eocene. It contains a single species, C. pinnatiformis of Monte Bolca, Italy. It and Vomeropsis are the only known members of the extinct subfamily Vomeropsinae.
Acestrus is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish that lived during the lower Eocene in Europe. It contains one species, A. ornatus from the London Clay, known from a single braincase. It is thought to possibly be closely allied with billfish based on the braincase morphology, although it remains uncertain whether it had the rostrum characteristic of billfishes. Some authorities have suggested blochiid affinities.
Aglyptorhynchus is an extinct genus of marine billfish that was distributed worldwide from the early Eocene to the early Miocene. Fossils are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere, but one species is also known to have inhabited the waters off New Zealand.
Cylindracanthus is an extinct, enigmatic genus of marine ray-finned fish with fossils known throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa from the Late Cretaceous to the late Eocene, with potential Oligocene records and a possible Miocene record also known. It is exclusively known from its distinctive partial remains, which are long cylindrical bony spines that are usually considered rostrum fragments, as well as some associated teeth. These spines are abundant & widespread throughout this timespan, and are useful indicators of a nearshore marine environment, but the taxonomic identity of the fish is still highly uncertain and debated.
Palimphyes is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish known from the Paleogene period. It was a euzaphlegid, an extinct family of scombroid fish related to the escolars and snake mackerels.
This list of fossil fish species is a list of taxa of fish that have been described during the year 2012. The list only includes taxa at the level of genus or species.
Giovanni Serafino Volta (1764–1842) was an Italian priest, naturalist, and palaeontologist, best known for his studies of fossil fish from Monte Bolca.
Cyclopoma is an extinct genus of marine perciform fish from the Eocene. It is known from the Ypresian to the Lutetian of Europe and eastern North America.
Siphonostomites hesionoides is a species of polychaete annelid known only from subtidal lagoon deposits from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, Verona, Italy.
The Matt Formation is an Early Oligocene-aged marine geological formation that outcrops in the Glarus Alps of the Canton of Glarus, Switzerland. It is most notable for its fossiliferous slates found near Engi, known as the Engi slates, Glarner Schiefer or Glarner Fischschiefer, which contain the well-preserved fossils of fishes, birds, and sea turtles. The metamorphization of the rock has led to many of the fossils appearing somewhat distorted.
The Pabdeh Formation is a Late Eocene to Early Oligocene-aged geological formation in Iran. It outcrops along the Zagros Mountains. It was deposited in a deepwater environment in the upper bathyal zone of the Paratethys Sea, with these abyssal sediments being lifted high above sea level from the uplift of the Zagros fold and thrust belt as part of the Alpide orogeny.
Hemingwaya is an extinct genus of billfish in the monotypic family Hemingwayidae that lived during the earliest Eocene epoch, approximately 56 to 55 million years ago. It contains a single species, H. sarissa. Members of this family are characterized by their elongated, spear-like bills, a feature that defines modern billfish such as swordfish and marlins. It is known from the Danata Formation of Turkmenistan, which represented a far eastern inland arm of the Tethys Ocean, and was deposited in the earliest Eocene shortly after the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. The genus name honors famed author Ernest Hemingway, who prominently featured a marlin in his 1952 novella The Old Man and the Sea, while the species name "sarissa" originates from the Greek word for "spear".
Palaeorhynchidae is an extinct family of small-sized billfishes known from fossil remains. They were found worldwide from the mid-Paleogene period to the early Miocene, and are considered an early lineage within the broader evolution of billfish-like species. These fish are recognized for their distinctive elongated, bill-like rostra, a feature they share with modern billfishes such as swordfish and marlins.
 | This Carangiformes-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |