Seriola prisca

Seriola prisca Temporal range: Early Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Fossil specimen, Natural History Museum of Verona
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Carangiformes
Suborder:	Carangoidei
Family:	Carangidae
Genus:	Seriola
Species:	†S. prisca
Binomial name
†Seriola prisca (Agassiz, 1834)
Synonyms
† Lichia priscaAgassiz, 1834 † Carangopsis analisAgassiz, 1844 †Seriola lata Heckel, 1854

Seriola prisca (prisca being Latin for "ancient") is an extinct species of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish from the Eocene. Complete fossil specimens are known from the famous Early Eocene-aged Monte Bolca site of Italy. ^{[1] [2]}

Specimen of a juvenile S. prisca

It was a close relative of modern amberjacks, belonging to the same genus as them ( Seriola ), and is one of the oldest known members of the genus. Due to its age and it belonging to an extant genus, it has often been used to provide a minimum age constraint for divergence of the carangid radiation. ^{[3] [4]} It closely resembles and may be related to the extinct species S. natgeosoc from the Bartonian of North Caucasus, Russia. ^[5]

It was first erroneously identified in 1796 by Giovanni Serafino Volta as a fossil specimen of the extant " Scomber pelagicus " (now synonymized with the modern mahi-mahi). In 1834, it was described by Louis Agassiz as Lichia prisca, who considered it an extinct relative of the modern leerfish. It was moved to Seriola by Johann Jakob Heckel in 1854. ^[6]

It could reach a length of 0.4 metres (1.3 ft). ^[6]

References

1. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2025-01-21.
2. Carnevale, G.; Bannikov, Alexandre F.; Marramà, G.; Tyler, James C.; Zorzin., R. (2014). "The Bolca Fossil-Lagerstätte: A window into the Eocene World. 5. The Pesciara- Monte Postale Fossil-Lagerstätte: 2. Fishes and other vertebrates. Excursion guide" (PDF). Rendiconti della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 4 (1): i–xxvii. hdl:10088/25678.
3. Santini, Francesco; Carnevale, Giorgio (2015-02-01). "First multilocus and densely sampled timetree of trevallies, pompanos and allies (Carangoidei, Percomorpha) suggests a Cretaceous origin and Eocene radiation of a major clade of piscivores" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 83: 33–39. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.10.018. ISSN   1055-7903.
4. Halasan, Lorenzo C.; Lin, Hsiu-Chin (2024-09-01). "Diagnostic applicability of mitogenomics in uncovering intraspecific carangid diversifications: insights into phylogeny, divergence time, and characterization of two cryptic Selaroides leptolepis mitogenomes" . Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 24 (3): 417–434. doi:10.1007/s13127-024-00648-9. ISSN   1618-1077.
5. Bannikov, A. F. (2002). "New Carangid Fishes of the Genus Seriola (Carangidae, Seriolinae) from the Middle Eocene of the Northern Caucasus" (PDF). Journal of Ichthyology. 42 (1): 1–6.
6. Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.