Chiromystus

Chiromystus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
Fossil specimen of C. alagoensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Division: Teleostei
Order: †Ichthyodectiformes
Family: †Cladocyclidae
Genus: †Chiromystus
Cope, 1886
Type species
†Chiromystus mawsoni
Cope, 1886
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • ?Itaparica Silva-Santos, 1986

Chiromystus is an extinct genus of freshwater ichthyodectiform ray-finned fish that inhabited large rift lakes on the supercontinent of West Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous.[1][2][3] Three to four species are known from both of West Gondwana's constituent continents (South America & Africa).[4]

The following species are known:[2]

The classification of C. woodwardi remains uncertain. It was initially confused with C. mawsoni before being described as a distinct species in 1947. In 1986, it was reclassified into its own genus, Itaparica, but the basis for this reclassification is scant, and it is thus tentatively retained in Chiromystus.[8]

Chiromystus was initially classified in the family Chirocentridae (the modern wolf-herrings) before being moved into the extinct Ichthyodectiformes.[7] This genus was also initially synonymized with the related but marine genus Cladocyclus for a time.[8]

A partial ichthyodectiform skull reminiscent of either Chiromystus or Gillicus was recovered from earliest Cenomanian-aged rocks in a drill core taken from the Cape Verde Rise in the southern Atlantic Ocean, about 699.9 metres (2,296 ft) below the surface. The morphology of the specimen closely resembles that of Chiromystus, as does its occurrence in between South America and Africa, but it appears to have inhabited marine habitats, in contrast to Chiromystus which inhabited freshwater and estuarine habitats.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2026-06-08.
  2. 1 2 Lindoso, Rafael Matos; Maisey, John Graham; Carvalho, Ismar de Souza (April 2016). "Ichthyofauna from the Codó Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Aptian, Parnaíba Basin), Northeastern Brazil and their paleobiogeographical and paleoecological significance". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 447: 53–64. Bibcode:2016PPP...447...53L. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.01.045.
  3. ↑ Maisey, John G. (January 2016). "Mr Mawson's fossils". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 430 (1): 219–233. Bibcode:2016GSLSP.430..219M. doi:10.1144/SP430.2.
  4. 1 2 Taverne, Louis (2010). "Les Ichthyodectidae (Teleostei, Ichthyodectiformes) des schistes bitumineux de l'Aptien (Crétacé inférieur) de Guinée Équatoriale et du Gabon" [Ichthyodectidae (Teleostei, Ichthyodectiformes) from the Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) bituminous shales of Equatorial Guinea and Gabon]. Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Aardwetenschappen = Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Sciences de la Terre (in French). 80: 115–143. INIST 24282392.
  5. ↑ Jordan, David Starr (1898). Collected papers.
  6. 1 2 "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2026-06-08.
  7. 1 2 Cope, E. D. (1886). "A Contribution to the Vertebrate Paleontology of Brazil". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 23 (121): 1–21. JSTOR 982910.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Cavin, Lionel; Forey, Peter L.; Giersch, Samuel (February 2013). "Osteology of Eubiodectes libanicus (Pictet & Humbert, ) and some other ichthyodectiformes (Teleostei): phylogenetic implications". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (2): 115–177. Bibcode:2013JSPal..11..115C. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.691559.
  9. ↑ Casson, Max; Cavin, Lionel; Jeremiah, Jason; Bulot, Luc G.; Redfern, Jonathan (3 September 2018). "Fishing in the Central Atlantic, an earliest Cenomanian ichthyodectiform from DSDP Site 367, Cape Verde Basin". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38 (5) e1510415. Bibcode:2018JVPal..38E0415C. doi:10.1080/02724634.2018.1510415.
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