Coccolepis

Coccolepis Temporal range: Late Jurassic (Tithonian) PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Coccolepis bucklandi type specimen
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Family:	† Coccolepididae
Genus:	† Coccolepis Agassiz, 1843
Type species
†Coccolepis bucklandi Agassiz, 1843
Other species
†C. solnhofensisLópez-Arbarello & Ebert, 2021
Synonyms
†Browneichthys Woodward, 1899 [1]

Coccolepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish in the family Coccolepididae. ^[2] Originally including most species within the family, it is now restricted to two species from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. ^[3] The holotype of C. bucklandi, designated and described by Louis Agassiz, was thought to be lost but was later rediscovered in Neuchâtel. ^[4]

Taxonomy

Coccolepis contains the following species, both from Germany:

• †C. bucklandi Agassiz, 1843
• †C. solnhofensisLópez-Arbarello & Ebert, 2021

Some species originally referred to Coccolepis were later reallocated to other genera:

• Coccolepis groeberiBordas, 1943 → Condorlepis groeberi (Bordas, 1943) ^[5]
• Coccolepis andrewsi Woodward, 1891 → Morrolepis andrewsi (Woodward, 1891) ^[6]
• Coccolepis aniscowitchiGorizdor-Kulczycka, 1926 → Morrolepis aniscowitchi (Gorizdor-Kulczycka, 1926) ^[6]
• Coccolepis macroptera Traquair, 1911 → Barbalepis macroptera (Traquair, 1911) ^[1]
• CoccolepisaustralisWoodward, 1895 → Cacatualepis australis (Woodward, 1895) ^[7]

"Coccolepis" liassicaWoodward, 1890 (Early Jurassic of the Jurassic Coast, United Kingdom) is not thought to be true member of Coccolepis, but is still of uncertain phylogenetic placement. ^[3]

Coccolepis sp. fossil at the State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig

See also

• Paleontology portal
• Fish portal

• Prehistoric fish
• List of prehistoric bony fish

References

1. Olive, Sébastien; Taverne, Loiuis; López-Arbarello, Adriana (2019). "A new genus of coccolepidid actinopterygian from the Cretaceous Iguanodon- bearing locality of Bernissart, Belgium". Cretaceous Research. 95: 318–335. Bibcode:2019CrRes..95..318O. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.11.020. S2CID   134207366.
2. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
3. López-Arbarello, Adriana; Ebert, Martin (2021). "Diversity of Coccolepis AGASSIZ, 1843 (Coccolepididae, Chondrostei) from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen-Archipelago, Southern Germany". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 66. doi: 10.4202/app.00873.2021 .
4. Ebert, Martin; Bapst, Laure; Kölbl-Ebert, Martina; Malvesy, Thierry; López-Arbarello, Adriana (2021). "Coccolepis Agassiz, 1843 (Coccolepididae, Chondrostei) from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Archipelago – rediscovery of the type specimen and open questions". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 300 (1): 11–22. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2021/0976. S2CID   234814832.
5. López-Arbarello, Adriana; Sferco, Emilia; Rauhut, Oliver Walter Mischa (2013). "A new genus of coccolepidid fishes (Actinopterygii, Chondrostei) from the continental Jurassic of Patagonia". Palaeontologia Electronica. 16 (1): 7A:23. doi: 10.26879/348 . hdl: 11336/11344 .
6. Skrzycka, Roksana (2014). "Revision of two relic actinopterygians from the Middle or Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation, Karatau Range, Kazakhstan". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 38 (3): 364–390. Bibcode:2014Alch...38..364S. doi:10.1080/03115518.2014.880267. S2CID   129308632.
7. Bean, L. B. (2025). "Cacatualepis: a new genus name for coccolepids from the Australian Mesozoic". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. doi: 10.1080/03115518.2025.2488057 .