Middle Miocene rockling (Teleostei, Gadidae) from the Paratethys (St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria)

Abstract

Fishes of the subfamily Gaidropsarinae, commonly known as rocklings, are anatomically unique within the family Gadidae (Teleostei, Gadiformes), mostly because of their possession of a highly specialized chemosensory and vibratile first dorsal fin. The genus Gaidropsarus contains 13 extant species occurring from subtropical to temperate waters in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, South Africa, New Zealand, Tasmania, Japan and southeastern Pacific, plus a single fossil species from the Miocene of Algeria. A new species of rockling, Gaidropsarus pilleri sp. nov., is described from the Middle Miocene (Late Badenian) corallinacean limestone of St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Eisenstadt-Sopron Basin, Austria based on seven articulated skeletons. The new species is based on a unique combination of features, including: possession of a wide neurocranium (neurocranial width contained less than two times in its length); well-developed sphenotic spine; epibranchials 2 and 3 characterized by massive uncinate processes; presence of 44 (13 + 31) vertebrae; five posterior parapophyses enlarged, the posterior three wing-like; 2 nd dorsal fin contains about 50 rays; anal fin with 43 rays; caudal peduncle very short (2.4% SL). Gaidropsarus pilleri sp. nov. is the earliest known occurrence of the rocklings based on skeletal remains. The vibratile and chemosensory first dorsal fin of gaidropsarines may have arisen by co-option of the first dorsal-fin module.•

The Endemic Marine Fish Fauna From the Eastern Paratethys Reconstructed From Otoliths From the Miocene (Middle Sarmatian S.L.; Bessarabian) of Jurkine (Kerch Peninsula, Crimea)

“…Articulated fish skeletons are well known from the Middle Miocene of the Central and Eastern Paratethys. Schultz (2013) listed 28 skeletonbased species from the Leitha Limestone of Austria, which amounts to 30 species including new records by Carnevale & Harzhauser (2013) and Carnevale and Collette (2014). According to Harzhauser et al (2020), the Leitha Limestone is the lateral equivalent of the Baden Formation and corresponds to the latest Langhian (i.e., top early Badenian) accord-ing to Kovać et al (2018), which was just prior to the Badenian Salinity Crisis (middle Badenian in the sense of Hohenegger et al 2014).…”

First report of Eocene gadiform fishes from the Trans-Urals (Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, Russia)

“…Although a Cretaceous origin has been hypothesized from their sister-group relationships with zeiforms, reliable occurrences of fossil gadiforms are known only from Cenozoic deposits and include otoliths, isolated bones, and articulated skeletons (see Cohen, 1984; Nolf and Steurbaut, 1989; Carnevale, 2007; Kriwet and Hecht, 2008; Carnevale et al, 2012; Carnevale and Harzhauser, 2013; Přikryl et al, 2016; Schwarzhans et al, 2017; Přikryl, 2018). The Cretaceous origin of this group seems to be also supported by the presence of a precocious bipolar distribution of their occurrences in the early Paleogene, with gadoids in the Paleocene of North Atlantic and North Sea Basin and macrouroids in the Southern Ocean (Kriwet and Hecht, 2008).…”

†Zappaichthys harzhauseri, gen. et sp. nov., a new Miocene toadfish (Teleostei, Batrachoidiformes) from the Paratethys (St. Margarethen in Burgenland, Austria), with comments on the fossil record of batrachoidiform fishes

“…Only a limited portion of this diverse assemblage has been described (M€ unster, 1846;Heckel, 1850Heckel, , 1856Heckel and Kner, 1861;Kner, 1862;Gorjanovi c-Kramberger, 1902;Bachmayer, 1980;Bellwood and Schultz, 1991;Schultz, 1993, 2006a, 2006b, Chanet and Schultz, 1994Carnevale et al, 2012;Carnevale and Harzhauser, 2013). It is clearly dominated by round herrings, sardines, and lanternfishes, followed by scorpionfishes, cods, and seabreams.…”