Pleuropholis

Pleuropholis is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish belonging to the Pleuropholidae. Fossils have been found in Europe and North America. It lived between the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous (Kimmeridgian-Albian, about 155-110 million years ago). The type species is Pleuropholis crassicauda.

Description

Pleuropholis was a small, sardine-like fish, usually no more than 10cm or four inches long in total length. It had a slender body elongated head and a rounded snout. The mouth was moderately deep and the eyes were large. The dorsal fin was far away. It had scales with serrated edges.

Species

Species of the genus Pleuropholis:

• †Pleuropholis cisnerosorum Alvarado-Ortega & Brito, 2016
• †Pleuropholis crassicauda Egerton, 1858 (type)
• †Pleuropholis danielae Brito & Vullo, 2023
• †Pleuropholis formosa Woodward, 1919
• †Pleuropholis longicaudata Egerton, 1858
• †Pleuropholis serrata Egerton, 1858
• †Pleuropholis thiollieri Sauvage, 1883

Fossils

Paleobiology

Pleuropholis is a fish that inhabited shallow lagoons and brackish and marine waters. It also fed on small organisms.

Related pages

• Allothrissops
• Uarbryichthys
• Aspidorhynchus
• List of prehistoric bony fish genera

References

1. Alvarado-Ortega, J.; Brito, P. M. (2016). "A Jurassic pleuropholid fish (Teleostei, Pleuropholidae) in the Tethys Sea domain of North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
2. Brito, P. M.; Vullo, R. (2023). "A new species of Pleuropholis (Teleostei: Pleuropholidae) from the Upper Cretaceous Akrabou Formation of southeastern Morocco, with comments on the evolutionary history of the genus" (PDF). Cretaceous Research.
3. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Retrieved 2009-02-27.