Reassessment and Relationships of †Scutatuspinosus itapagipensis (Teleostei, Clupeomorpha, †Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Neocomian of Recôncavo Basin, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Clupeomorphs are found in many assemblages of the northeastern Brazil, whose ages range from the Neocomian to Paleogene. Ten species were described. Among them †Scutatuspinosus itapagipensis, a torpedo-like fish found in shales of the Marfim Formation from Bahia, remains poorly known. At first it was positioned within †Scutatuspinosinae and indicated as closely related to †Diplomystus. Diagnoses for the subfamily and genus were based on certain characters masking relationships. Recently it was placed in †Ellimmichthyiformes, but its systematic position remains controversial. We furnish additional data and restorations together with a parsimony analysis with TNT program, using 60 unordered and unweighted characters from selected species of 13 genera. Our analysis produced 12 trees with 158 steps, a consistency index (CI) of 0.44 and retention index (RI) of 0.52. Low support indices still indicate insufficient data for many taxa and uncertain status for clades. According to the majority rule consensus, †Scutatuspinosus itapagipensis is placed within a " †paraclupeine" group with †Ezkutuberezi carmenae, †Ellimma branneri, †Ellimmichthys longicostatus, and †Paraclupea chetunguensis. Its minimum age and position among †paraclupeids indicate an early history of the group older than it was thought to be, supporting a biogeographical hypothesis based on generalized track from China to northeastern Brazil during the Lower Cretaceous.

An Eocene paraclupeid fish (Teleostei, Ellimmichthyiformes) from Bolca, Italy: the youngest marine record of double‐armoured herrings

“…(), Alvarado‐Ortega & Ovalles‐Damián (), Khalloufi et al . (), Murray & Wilson (), Bannikov (), Figueiredo & Ribeiro (, ), and Alvarado‐Ortega & Melgarejo‐Damián ().…”

“…The Ellimmichthyiformes have a long evolutionary history encompassing about 90 million years from the Early Cretaceous to the middle Eocene (Grande , ). Figueiredo & Ribeiro () considered the paraclupeid Scutatuspinosus itapagipensis from the Hauterivian–Barremian Marfim Formation, Recôncavo Basin, Brazil, to be the oldest confirmed double‐armoured herring. Another paraclupeid, Ellimmichthys longicostatus , occurs along with Scutatuspinosus itapagipensis in the Marfim Formation of Brazil (e.g.…”

“…Ellima branneri , Ellimmichthys goodi , E. longicostatus , ‘ Ellimmichthys ’ maceioensis , Scutatuspinosus itapagipensis ; see Chang & Maisey , Malabarba et al . , Figueiredo & Ribeiro ), Iberia ( Ezkutuberezi carmenae ; Poyato‐Ariza et al . ) and China ( Paraclupea chetungensis ; Chang & Grande ), but some taxa are also known from shallow marine deposits of Brazil and Mexico ( Codoichthys carnavalii , Paraclupea seilacheri , Scutatoclupea applegatei ; see Alvarado‐Ortega & Ovalles‐Damián ; Figueiredo & Ribeiro ; Alvarado‐Ortega & Melgarejo‐Damián ).…”

“…(), Poyato‐Ariza et al . (), Murray & Wilson (), Bannikov (), Vernygora & Murray (), Figueiredo & Ribeiro (, ), Murray et al . (), Alvarado‐Ortega & Melgarejo‐Damián () and Marramà & Carnevale ().…”

“…This clupeomorph clade currently includes about 40 species arranged in 19 genera spanning from the Early Cretaceous to the middle Eocene (e.g. Grande ; Alvarado‐Ortega & Melgarejo‐Damián ; Figueiredo & Ribeiro ). However, the diversity of this extinct lineage can be easily increased with the revision of a number of species traditionally assigned to the genera ‘ Clupea ’ or ‘ Diplomystus ’ (Grande ).…”